Part VI
Faith felt as if all of the blood had rushed out of her head at once. She swayed, and abruptly felt a strong pair of arms around her: Xander. She smiled, then turned back to him and commented, "That was a bit weird. . .but I'm OK, Xander. . .thanks."
Xander nodded and cautiously released her, smiling when he saw that she was able to stay on her feet unaided. Willow, watching with wide eyes, asked, "Faith. . .are you sure? I've never done one of these spells before. . .maybe I got it wrong."
Faith seemed to withdraw for a moment, and the others could see her flexing various muscles and stretching. She opened her eyes and turned to Willow, replying, "No, Willow. . .you got it right. Don't forget. . .I've only been a Slayer for a bit over a year now, and I remember what it felt like not to be one." She experimented with throwing a punch or two, then shook her head, commenting, "I feel like I'm trying to move through soup. . .this is going to take some getting used to." She turned to Xander, and the air of command was still there in spite of the inhibition spell cast on the amulet she was wearing as she ordered, "OK, Xander. . .let's get started."
They were standing in the old mansion that had once been Angel's home: it had been the obvious place for them to train, particularly since Faith had insisted that Buffy, Giles and Danielle were to be kept "out of the loop." Xander, Willow, and Oz had been less than thrilled with this request, since it meant a rather substantial amount of lying to three of their best friends. "Look," Faith had shot back, "you know damned well B is going to go ballistic when she hears I'm doing this. . .her own Cruciamentum really freaked her out, and she's been really firm about my not having to do it. . .and Giles has his own issues with it. Danielle is trying to train me in her own way, and I don't want her thinking I don't have confidence in her. . .she doesn't deserve that, but you guys are just better for handling this. . .OK?"
They had agreed, and so it was that the four of them were alone when Xander and Faith squared off on the mat spread out near the large fireplace. Xander stared at Faith for a long moment, then goaded, "All right, Faith. . .take me down."
Faith's eyes glowed with ferocity, and she launched a nasty kick at Xander's nether regions. He quickly raised his knee to block it, and slipped the follow-up roundhouse right, side-stepping as Faith staggered. He moved away a short distance, and when Faith tried for another high punch, Xander dropped down and executed a perfect sweep kick. Faith wound up supine and stunned, and by the time she had recovered, Xander was standing over her, pantomiming a finishing blow to her forehead. Faith's eyes dulled in embarrassment, then Xander offered her his hand, which she accepted. Xander pulled her up to her feet, then commented, "Faith, since you've been the Slayer, have you ever faced someone faster than you?"
Faith thought for a moment. Kakistos. . .Lagos. . .Angel, weakened by his time in Hell. . .that brief tussle with Buffy. . .the Eliminati vamps. She shook her head, and Xander continued, "Welcome to my world. Faith, you're still re-learning how to fight without your Slayer powers. . .the chances are that you'll be faster than me when we're done. But a lot of these vamps will be faster than you even then, and all of them will be stronger than you. You have to fight defensively and look for an opening. . .if you don't, you're dead. . .period."
Faith nodded and replied, "I know. . .I hoped that the knee to the groin might take the starch out of you. . ."
Xander grimaced and replied, "It would have, but guys-even ones without a pulse-expect that as an opening move from you femmes. . .word gets around. Now, if you can see a chance to use it later in the fight, it might catch them off guard, and you can take them out while they're dealing with the nasty side effects." He grinned, embarrassed, then commented, "I've done that a few times when a vamp caught me alone. . .can't do it when anyone else is watching. . .it can get you kicked out of the guy fraternity."
Willow and Faith laughed, while Oz winced. Xander smiled again, then called out, "All right, let's try it again."
* * * * *
"Xander. . .where are you getting those bruises?"
Xander turned to Buffy, who was pointedly staring at a purplish-black mark on his ribcage. Joyce was out of town, and the two of them had taken the opportunity to escape from Buffy's deeply annoying roommate for some alone time at the Summers house. Xander cursed inwardly as he belatedly remembered that he had picked up a new set of bruises, and realized that Buffy had apparently noticed some of the prior bruises he had picked up. He adopted an innocent expression and replied, "What makes you think it's not you. . .you big brute of a Slayer, you?"
Buffy snickered, then leaned over to Xander's ear and whispered, "Xander. . .if what we did together could cause bruises. . .you'd be walking around all the time looking like an eggplant." She withdrew, and Xander could see the seriousness in her eyes as she pressed, "Now. . .where are you getting those bruises?"
Xander sighed, and effortlessly slipped into the cover story that he had prepared. "Oz and I train pretty regularly. . .and he hits hard, for a little guy. . .maybe I should think about going the werewolf route. . .it seems to give a guy an edge in a fight."
Buffy glared at him until his puckish smile made it clear he was joking, then replied, "I think that one relationship interrupted for three days a month for howling at the moon is quite enough for our little group, thank you very much. . .besides, the whole feral boyfriend thing is WAY overrated. . .I should know."
Xander interrupted that particular train of thought by running his index finger down Buffy's exposed back, causing her to turn and pounce, after which conversation became rather disjointed for some time. Afterwards, they lay on her bed, gasping for air, and Xander waited for a few moments before commenting, "Three nights a month without this? OK, lycanthropy officially sucks."
Buffy laughed, and snuggled against him in silence for several minutes. Abruptly, Xander looked over at her and asked, "So. . .what are the plans for the rest of the week?"
Buffy shrugged and replied, "Nothing special until Giles' birthday party on Saturday. . .I thought we could hit the Bronze on Friday with Willow and Oz."
Xander nodded, then frowned, "Why don't we get Faith to come along? We hardly get to hang with her any more." * You're going to hell for that one * thought Xander as he further mislead Buffy about the source of his bruises, but he had been concerned that Faith was shutting herself off from everything non-Slaying related, and a night at the Bronze would be fun for her.
Buffy smiled softly, then replied, "Faith has other plans for Friday night," then shut up and innocently stared off at the far wall.
Xander raised an eyebrow, then asked, "Oh, really. . .like what?"
Buffy turned back, and replied apologetically, "Sorry, honey. . .can't tell you. Faith made me promise. . .I hope you understand."
Xander gave her an annoyed look, then carefully moved his hands up to her head, where he gently massaged her temples. Cordelia had taught him how to do this: it had tended to relax her to where she would fall asleep in his arms. He quickly discovered that the effect on Buffy was a bit different.
The Slayer abruptly turned, growled softly in her throat, and pounced again. Before being caught up in the immediacy of the moment, Xander wondered to himself:
* What could Faith have going on Friday that she didn't want to tell the rest of us about? *
* * * * *
Giles walked up to the door of his apartment, rather pleased with himself. The interview at the museum had gone well. . .the interviewer had remarked that, unless the current curator of the British Museum of Antiquities walked through the door looking for work, Giles was unquestionably the best qualified candidate that she had seen, and that she would let him know for sure about the position in a couple of days. * Better than another year under the tender mercies of Principal Snyder *, he thought, shaking his head and mildly regretting that the former Mayor of Sunnydale hadn't taken the time to snack on the annoying principal before he met his fate at the hands of the Slayers. . .
He opened the door, and was surprised to see that the light in the kitchen was on. "Buffy?" he called out, wondering if she had decided to use his kitchen to prepare whatever the main course at his birthday party tomorrow would be.
"Nope. . .just me, Giles." Faith's voice drifted out from the kitchen, and Giles blinked in surprise. He had given her a key, of course, but she had never to his knowledge used it before, and, for that matter, he could not remember ever having been alone with her here. Intense curiosity overwhelmed the whispers of uneasiness he felt, and he walked over to see what she was doing. His nose wrinkled as he detected the odor of good cooking wafting towards him. He looked in and blinked in bewilderment as he saw an apron-clad Faith carefully using a spatula to unstick a large roasted bird from the pan it was in. After a moment, she murmured in satisfaction, then withdrew and closed the oven door. Faith straightened and looked over at Giles, smiling, as she called out, "Hey! How did the interview go?"
Giles blinked again, and it took a moment for him to manage to reply, "Very well, I think. . .thank you for asking." He paused, then asked, "Faith. . .is that roast duck in the oven?"
Faith nodded, then elaborated, "Plus baby carrots and baked potatoes, and cornbread. . .sound OK to you?"
Giles nodded slowly: Faith had just described one of his favorite dinners. . .and one he had not had since leaving England. He stared at her and asked, "How. . .?"
Faith shrugged and replied, "I asked B. . .apparently you had mentioned it to her, and she remembered. I got the recipe off the Internet, and you had all of the cooking stuff I needed here, so I used the key you gave me. Hope you don't mind. . .?"
Giles shook his head slowly and replied, "No, I certainly don't mind. . .Faith, I had no idea you had cooking skills of this caliber."
The Slayer grinned and replied, "You might want to taste it before you go all out in praising it, Giles. . .you pick up some stuff when you're on your own. . .and I can read a recipe as well as anyone." She stretched, then walked out of the kitchen, commenting, "Everything's ready but the bird, and that will be ready to go in about twenty minutes. . .let's hang out in the living room."
Giles smiled and nodded, and she coaxed him into talking about the interview. The story took a few minutes, and Giles noticed that she listened attentively as she sat next to him, looking relaxed. Again, he felt a subliminal tickle of concern and dismissed it as he concluded the story. Faith grinned at him and commented, "Sounds like it's in the bag. . .nice going. Better to have a nice job at the museum than being stuck in the library dodging that little troll for another year."
Giles nodded, then looked intently at Faith and commented, "Faith. . .I must confess. . .I had no idea you would be here tonight. . .to what do I owe this very impressive and generous effort on your part?"
Faith looked at him for a long moment, then replied, "Giles. . .I talk a lot with B, and I know you beat yourself up a lot about how things went down with me before Danielle got here. I won't lie to you. . .it kind of sucked at times. . .but you did your best, and you always had my back when I needed you. I haven't forgotten, even with Danielle being here and doing a damned good job herself. I'll be there with the others tomorrow, but I just wanted this to be about me saying 'thanks' to you. . .does that make sense?"
Giles looked at her, then nodded slowly as he took in the sight of the young woman sitting next to him. The confident look in the eyes across from him was a stark contrast from what he remembered from the first days he had known her, just a year before. The fire was the same, but the element of fear and distrust was gone. He felt a tingle of joy, with just a touch of pride for his own role in helping her find her way as he replied, "Yes, Faith. . .and thank you." The timer in the kitchen dinged, and Faith got up and began to bring serving dishes into the dining area, and Giles hastened to help her.
The meal was exquisite, and Giles made a point of letting Faith know it, through words and sighs of contentment. For her part, she ate in silence, smiling at his compliments and watching him with a look that Giles could not interpret. They finished, and Giles pointedly gestured for Faith to stand aside: he would take care of the cleanup. . .though a bit of digestion would precede the effort. Faith held up her hands in surrender and retreated to the living room, and Giles followed after clearing the table and placing the dishes in the sink. He settled onto the couch and sighed in contentment before turning to Faith and commenting, "That was by far the best meal I've had since setting foot in this country. . .and for a while before that, I should add. . .Faith, thank you again."
Faith smiled at him and replied, "Not a problem. . .nice to know I can do that sort of thing. . .never know where it might come in handy." She saw him shift in his seat and grunt in momentary discomfort, and asked, "Problem, Giles?"
Giles frowned and replied, "It's nothing, really. . .a bit of muscular tightness. . .I'm afraid I don't bounce back from my workouts with Buffy as well as I did a few years ago. A soak in the tub should alleviate the worst of it."
Giles saw a glimmer of something in the Slayer's dark eyes, then it was gone as she stood up and pulled him to his feet. Puzzled, he let her lead him upstairs to his bedroom, and stood there as she looked up at him and commanded, "All right, Watcher, off with the shirt."
Giles raised an eyebrow, startled, and replied, "I beg your pardon?"
Faith looked at him impatiently and responded, "Giles. . .you work out with someone five times as strong as you two or three times a week and you wonder why your back hurts? You need a good rubdown, and since B isn't here to do it, I guess I need to. . .what's the old saying. . .oh yeah, 'step into the breach.'" She stared at him and demanded, "Come on, Giles. . .shirt off. . .I don't have all night, you know."
Giles opened his mouth, with the thought of lecturing her on decorum, but he knew that look from the times that Buffy had directed it at him. . .he was not going to talk her out of this. With a resigned sigh, he turned his back on her and removed his shirt and tie, after which he lay on his bed face down, not seeing the appraising look that Faith was giving him. He sighed again and called out, "All right, Faith. . .let's get this over with. . .I don't want you to be stuck here all night with me."
Faith's eyes glinted wickedly at this comment, but she said nothing as she settled down next to him on the bed and began carefully kneading the knotted muscles in Giles' back and shoulders. While she kept up a professional, steady rhythm, she made a point of leaning as close to him as possible while working on the crucial areas. She could see him visibly relax, and heard his breathing slow. She smiled again and stood up, moving to the front of the bed and leaning over him to continue kneading his shoulders and neck. Nervous for the first time since arriving at the apartment, she waited to see how he would react.
Giles was feeling more relaxed than he had in quite some time, and he did not immediately notice Faith's change in position. After a moment, he opened his eyes and realized that Faith was leaning right over him. . .so close that he could detect the spicy, tangy scent that the light sheen of sweat visible on her neck and shoulders was giving off. Giles' entire body tingled as if an electric current had been briefly applied, and it took all of the control within him not to recoil in shock at the reaction he was having to Faith. Instead, he slowly pulled away from Faith and sat up, reaching for his shirt and casually dropping it in his lap as he commented, "Thank you, Faith. . .excellent job. Now, it's a Friday night, and I'm sure a lovely young woman such as yourself can find a pleasurable way to spend it that doesn't involve hanging out with a middle-aged librarian." His voice was calm, but he was painfully aware that the heat coming from his face meant that he was blushing more intensely than he had since before he was Faith's age.
Faith was silent for a moment, and Giles finally looked back and saw that she was watching him intently. Slowly, she moved from the foot of the bed and sat down next to him, watching him for a moment longer before replying, "You're right. . .I could. . .problem is, I don't want to." With that, she reached behind his head and pulled him gently but inexorably down into a kiss.
Giles didn't resist, and the kiss remained as it had began: soft and luxurious, rather than frantic or forceful. After thirty seconds, as if by mutual agreement, they pulled away from each other, and Faith looked at Giles, who clearly seemed to be at a loss for words. She waited a few more seconds, then prodded, "Uh, Giles. . .are you going to say something?"
The Watcher blinked and looked at Faith for a long moment, then stood and began to put his shirt back on. As he did so, he replied, "I think I had better leave, Faith."
Faith laughed involuntarily and reminded him, "Giles. . .this is your place, not mine."
Giles looked at her sharply and replied, "I know that, Faith. . .whatever has happened to my sanity in the last few minutes, it has not deprived me of that particular piece of information." He sighed and continued, "Faith. . .my judgment has obviously proved wanting. . .and I need to think about how I can salvage this situation."
Faith raised an eyebrow and retorted, "If you really want to 'salvage' this situation, you'll come back here and give me another one of those kisses. . .it's not too cool of you to lay a liplock like that on me and run off and leave me hot and bothered." She locked eyes with him, and the look she directed his way practically smoldered with sensuality.
Giles looked at her and mentally counted to ten to give himself time to compose a coherent reply. He coughed, then responded, "Faith. . .you have to know that I cannot allow this to proceed. It's wrong on any number of levels. . .how do you think Buffy would feel if she knew what was going on?"
Faith blinked, and her voice was cold as she replied, "Giles. . .Buffy's the nearest thing I've got to a big sister, and her opinion means a lot to me. . .but she doesn't call the shots in my love life. Besides, she knows what the score is. . .sharing Slayer's dreams spills a lot of secrets, you know."
Giles stared at her and filed away that particular piece of information for future reference before firing back, "All right. . .so Buffy isn't objecting. . .but that doesn't change any of the other objections. Faith, I used to be your Watcher. Any relationship of a romantic nature between us-"
"Bull, Giles." Faith's voice was blunt as she interrupted him. "Danielle is my Watcher now, not you. You're out of the chain of command as far as I'm concerned. I could walk out that door right now and you wouldn't have a damn thing to say about it. But I don't want to, and the fact that you used to be my Watcher doesn't give you a damn thing to say about that, either."
Giles looked at her silently, then nodded before continuing, "That doesn't change the fact that you're still underage. . .not to mention I'm none to sure of your judgment right now."
Faith snorted and replied, "I'll be eighteen in a month. . .I'm hardly a baby, Giles. . .and what the hell do you mean about my judgment? I-" She saw the guilty blink, then the naked concern in his eyes. . .and she knew what he was referring to. "Damn it, I told her not to tell you!" Her voice was an angry snarl as she paced angrily around the bedroom, continuing, "She had no right to tell you that!"
Giles stood up and restrained her gently, causing her to glare at him with visible outrage. He shook his head and explained, "Walter Morris called. . .he wanted me to help coordinate the staging of the event, including administering the. . .mixture. Obviously, he wasn't privy to your desire to keep things to yourself." He looked at her, and his tone was strained and worried as he whispered, "Faith. . .I cannot stress enough to you how dangerous your planned actions are. . .I almost lost Buffy to this foolish exercise, and I cannot bear the thought that this time this archaic barbarism will cost you your life."
Faith's glare softened, and she took his hand and led him downstairs back to the sofa, where they sat in silence for several minutes before she took a deep breath and told him about her plan, including how Xander, Willow and Oz had helped her. After she finished, she was pleased to see that some of the worry had gone out of his face, though his voice was still grim as he commented, "You have spent a lot of time thinking about this, Faith. . .and your plan seems to be sound, though I still despair at the unnecessary risk to your life." He looked at her with a sad smile on his face, then continued, "I didn't tell Buffy what I know. . .I take it that you wish her to remain ignorant of this?"
Faith nodded, and replied, "Yeah. . .I need to do this myself, Giles. . .without big sister looking over my shoulder. . .and she's got a lot of baggage about this whole thing, she'd just worry. That's why I didn't tell you. . .I need to do this, for a lot of reasons, and I don't want you guys trying to talk me out of it. Can you keep it to yourself, Giles?"
Giles nodded, then blinked as he realized there was still an unresolved matter between them. "Faith," he began, only to stop as Faith held up her hand to silence him.
He waited, and Faith looked at him sadly for a few seconds before whispering, "I can see that I'm not going to get through your sales resistance tonight, Giles, and as fun as the effort would be. . .I don't want to waste our time tonight on something that isn't going to happen yet." She leaned in and kissed him softly on the cheek, then stood and looked down at him before stating flatly, "But I am going to live through my Cruciamentum, Giles. . .and when I do you'll have one less excuse to use. I know what I want. . .and behind all of your excuses, I think you do too." She walked to the door and called out, "Sleep tight, Giles," before going out into the night.
The Watcher sat for fully ten minutes before rising and heading into the kitchen and tackling the pile of dishes that waited there. Giles had dealt with crises in the past that would have withered most souls who faced them, but he was looking at a conundrum in the person of a dark-eyed beauty who could bend a rifle barrel in her bare hands that had him momentarily at a loss. Shaking his head in a mixture of bewilderment and excitement, he focused on the task before him.
. . .to be continued
As always, comments are welcomed and desired
Faith felt as if all of the blood had rushed out of her head at once. She swayed, and abruptly felt a strong pair of arms around her: Xander. She smiled, then turned back to him and commented, "That was a bit weird. . .but I'm OK, Xander. . .thanks."
Xander nodded and cautiously released her, smiling when he saw that she was able to stay on her feet unaided. Willow, watching with wide eyes, asked, "Faith. . .are you sure? I've never done one of these spells before. . .maybe I got it wrong."
Faith seemed to withdraw for a moment, and the others could see her flexing various muscles and stretching. She opened her eyes and turned to Willow, replying, "No, Willow. . .you got it right. Don't forget. . .I've only been a Slayer for a bit over a year now, and I remember what it felt like not to be one." She experimented with throwing a punch or two, then shook her head, commenting, "I feel like I'm trying to move through soup. . .this is going to take some getting used to." She turned to Xander, and the air of command was still there in spite of the inhibition spell cast on the amulet she was wearing as she ordered, "OK, Xander. . .let's get started."
They were standing in the old mansion that had once been Angel's home: it had been the obvious place for them to train, particularly since Faith had insisted that Buffy, Giles and Danielle were to be kept "out of the loop." Xander, Willow, and Oz had been less than thrilled with this request, since it meant a rather substantial amount of lying to three of their best friends. "Look," Faith had shot back, "you know damned well B is going to go ballistic when she hears I'm doing this. . .her own Cruciamentum really freaked her out, and she's been really firm about my not having to do it. . .and Giles has his own issues with it. Danielle is trying to train me in her own way, and I don't want her thinking I don't have confidence in her. . .she doesn't deserve that, but you guys are just better for handling this. . .OK?"
They had agreed, and so it was that the four of them were alone when Xander and Faith squared off on the mat spread out near the large fireplace. Xander stared at Faith for a long moment, then goaded, "All right, Faith. . .take me down."
Faith's eyes glowed with ferocity, and she launched a nasty kick at Xander's nether regions. He quickly raised his knee to block it, and slipped the follow-up roundhouse right, side-stepping as Faith staggered. He moved away a short distance, and when Faith tried for another high punch, Xander dropped down and executed a perfect sweep kick. Faith wound up supine and stunned, and by the time she had recovered, Xander was standing over her, pantomiming a finishing blow to her forehead. Faith's eyes dulled in embarrassment, then Xander offered her his hand, which she accepted. Xander pulled her up to her feet, then commented, "Faith, since you've been the Slayer, have you ever faced someone faster than you?"
Faith thought for a moment. Kakistos. . .Lagos. . .Angel, weakened by his time in Hell. . .that brief tussle with Buffy. . .the Eliminati vamps. She shook her head, and Xander continued, "Welcome to my world. Faith, you're still re-learning how to fight without your Slayer powers. . .the chances are that you'll be faster than me when we're done. But a lot of these vamps will be faster than you even then, and all of them will be stronger than you. You have to fight defensively and look for an opening. . .if you don't, you're dead. . .period."
Faith nodded and replied, "I know. . .I hoped that the knee to the groin might take the starch out of you. . ."
Xander grimaced and replied, "It would have, but guys-even ones without a pulse-expect that as an opening move from you femmes. . .word gets around. Now, if you can see a chance to use it later in the fight, it might catch them off guard, and you can take them out while they're dealing with the nasty side effects." He grinned, embarrassed, then commented, "I've done that a few times when a vamp caught me alone. . .can't do it when anyone else is watching. . .it can get you kicked out of the guy fraternity."
Willow and Faith laughed, while Oz winced. Xander smiled again, then called out, "All right, let's try it again."
* * * * *
"Xander. . .where are you getting those bruises?"
Xander turned to Buffy, who was pointedly staring at a purplish-black mark on his ribcage. Joyce was out of town, and the two of them had taken the opportunity to escape from Buffy's deeply annoying roommate for some alone time at the Summers house. Xander cursed inwardly as he belatedly remembered that he had picked up a new set of bruises, and realized that Buffy had apparently noticed some of the prior bruises he had picked up. He adopted an innocent expression and replied, "What makes you think it's not you. . .you big brute of a Slayer, you?"
Buffy snickered, then leaned over to Xander's ear and whispered, "Xander. . .if what we did together could cause bruises. . .you'd be walking around all the time looking like an eggplant." She withdrew, and Xander could see the seriousness in her eyes as she pressed, "Now. . .where are you getting those bruises?"
Xander sighed, and effortlessly slipped into the cover story that he had prepared. "Oz and I train pretty regularly. . .and he hits hard, for a little guy. . .maybe I should think about going the werewolf route. . .it seems to give a guy an edge in a fight."
Buffy glared at him until his puckish smile made it clear he was joking, then replied, "I think that one relationship interrupted for three days a month for howling at the moon is quite enough for our little group, thank you very much. . .besides, the whole feral boyfriend thing is WAY overrated. . .I should know."
Xander interrupted that particular train of thought by running his index finger down Buffy's exposed back, causing her to turn and pounce, after which conversation became rather disjointed for some time. Afterwards, they lay on her bed, gasping for air, and Xander waited for a few moments before commenting, "Three nights a month without this? OK, lycanthropy officially sucks."
Buffy laughed, and snuggled against him in silence for several minutes. Abruptly, Xander looked over at her and asked, "So. . .what are the plans for the rest of the week?"
Buffy shrugged and replied, "Nothing special until Giles' birthday party on Saturday. . .I thought we could hit the Bronze on Friday with Willow and Oz."
Xander nodded, then frowned, "Why don't we get Faith to come along? We hardly get to hang with her any more." * You're going to hell for that one * thought Xander as he further mislead Buffy about the source of his bruises, but he had been concerned that Faith was shutting herself off from everything non-Slaying related, and a night at the Bronze would be fun for her.
Buffy smiled softly, then replied, "Faith has other plans for Friday night," then shut up and innocently stared off at the far wall.
Xander raised an eyebrow, then asked, "Oh, really. . .like what?"
Buffy turned back, and replied apologetically, "Sorry, honey. . .can't tell you. Faith made me promise. . .I hope you understand."
Xander gave her an annoyed look, then carefully moved his hands up to her head, where he gently massaged her temples. Cordelia had taught him how to do this: it had tended to relax her to where she would fall asleep in his arms. He quickly discovered that the effect on Buffy was a bit different.
The Slayer abruptly turned, growled softly in her throat, and pounced again. Before being caught up in the immediacy of the moment, Xander wondered to himself:
* What could Faith have going on Friday that she didn't want to tell the rest of us about? *
* * * * *
Giles walked up to the door of his apartment, rather pleased with himself. The interview at the museum had gone well. . .the interviewer had remarked that, unless the current curator of the British Museum of Antiquities walked through the door looking for work, Giles was unquestionably the best qualified candidate that she had seen, and that she would let him know for sure about the position in a couple of days. * Better than another year under the tender mercies of Principal Snyder *, he thought, shaking his head and mildly regretting that the former Mayor of Sunnydale hadn't taken the time to snack on the annoying principal before he met his fate at the hands of the Slayers. . .
He opened the door, and was surprised to see that the light in the kitchen was on. "Buffy?" he called out, wondering if she had decided to use his kitchen to prepare whatever the main course at his birthday party tomorrow would be.
"Nope. . .just me, Giles." Faith's voice drifted out from the kitchen, and Giles blinked in surprise. He had given her a key, of course, but she had never to his knowledge used it before, and, for that matter, he could not remember ever having been alone with her here. Intense curiosity overwhelmed the whispers of uneasiness he felt, and he walked over to see what she was doing. His nose wrinkled as he detected the odor of good cooking wafting towards him. He looked in and blinked in bewilderment as he saw an apron-clad Faith carefully using a spatula to unstick a large roasted bird from the pan it was in. After a moment, she murmured in satisfaction, then withdrew and closed the oven door. Faith straightened and looked over at Giles, smiling, as she called out, "Hey! How did the interview go?"
Giles blinked again, and it took a moment for him to manage to reply, "Very well, I think. . .thank you for asking." He paused, then asked, "Faith. . .is that roast duck in the oven?"
Faith nodded, then elaborated, "Plus baby carrots and baked potatoes, and cornbread. . .sound OK to you?"
Giles nodded slowly: Faith had just described one of his favorite dinners. . .and one he had not had since leaving England. He stared at her and asked, "How. . .?"
Faith shrugged and replied, "I asked B. . .apparently you had mentioned it to her, and she remembered. I got the recipe off the Internet, and you had all of the cooking stuff I needed here, so I used the key you gave me. Hope you don't mind. . .?"
Giles shook his head slowly and replied, "No, I certainly don't mind. . .Faith, I had no idea you had cooking skills of this caliber."
The Slayer grinned and replied, "You might want to taste it before you go all out in praising it, Giles. . .you pick up some stuff when you're on your own. . .and I can read a recipe as well as anyone." She stretched, then walked out of the kitchen, commenting, "Everything's ready but the bird, and that will be ready to go in about twenty minutes. . .let's hang out in the living room."
Giles smiled and nodded, and she coaxed him into talking about the interview. The story took a few minutes, and Giles noticed that she listened attentively as she sat next to him, looking relaxed. Again, he felt a subliminal tickle of concern and dismissed it as he concluded the story. Faith grinned at him and commented, "Sounds like it's in the bag. . .nice going. Better to have a nice job at the museum than being stuck in the library dodging that little troll for another year."
Giles nodded, then looked intently at Faith and commented, "Faith. . .I must confess. . .I had no idea you would be here tonight. . .to what do I owe this very impressive and generous effort on your part?"
Faith looked at him for a long moment, then replied, "Giles. . .I talk a lot with B, and I know you beat yourself up a lot about how things went down with me before Danielle got here. I won't lie to you. . .it kind of sucked at times. . .but you did your best, and you always had my back when I needed you. I haven't forgotten, even with Danielle being here and doing a damned good job herself. I'll be there with the others tomorrow, but I just wanted this to be about me saying 'thanks' to you. . .does that make sense?"
Giles looked at her, then nodded slowly as he took in the sight of the young woman sitting next to him. The confident look in the eyes across from him was a stark contrast from what he remembered from the first days he had known her, just a year before. The fire was the same, but the element of fear and distrust was gone. He felt a tingle of joy, with just a touch of pride for his own role in helping her find her way as he replied, "Yes, Faith. . .and thank you." The timer in the kitchen dinged, and Faith got up and began to bring serving dishes into the dining area, and Giles hastened to help her.
The meal was exquisite, and Giles made a point of letting Faith know it, through words and sighs of contentment. For her part, she ate in silence, smiling at his compliments and watching him with a look that Giles could not interpret. They finished, and Giles pointedly gestured for Faith to stand aside: he would take care of the cleanup. . .though a bit of digestion would precede the effort. Faith held up her hands in surrender and retreated to the living room, and Giles followed after clearing the table and placing the dishes in the sink. He settled onto the couch and sighed in contentment before turning to Faith and commenting, "That was by far the best meal I've had since setting foot in this country. . .and for a while before that, I should add. . .Faith, thank you again."
Faith smiled at him and replied, "Not a problem. . .nice to know I can do that sort of thing. . .never know where it might come in handy." She saw him shift in his seat and grunt in momentary discomfort, and asked, "Problem, Giles?"
Giles frowned and replied, "It's nothing, really. . .a bit of muscular tightness. . .I'm afraid I don't bounce back from my workouts with Buffy as well as I did a few years ago. A soak in the tub should alleviate the worst of it."
Giles saw a glimmer of something in the Slayer's dark eyes, then it was gone as she stood up and pulled him to his feet. Puzzled, he let her lead him upstairs to his bedroom, and stood there as she looked up at him and commanded, "All right, Watcher, off with the shirt."
Giles raised an eyebrow, startled, and replied, "I beg your pardon?"
Faith looked at him impatiently and responded, "Giles. . .you work out with someone five times as strong as you two or three times a week and you wonder why your back hurts? You need a good rubdown, and since B isn't here to do it, I guess I need to. . .what's the old saying. . .oh yeah, 'step into the breach.'" She stared at him and demanded, "Come on, Giles. . .shirt off. . .I don't have all night, you know."
Giles opened his mouth, with the thought of lecturing her on decorum, but he knew that look from the times that Buffy had directed it at him. . .he was not going to talk her out of this. With a resigned sigh, he turned his back on her and removed his shirt and tie, after which he lay on his bed face down, not seeing the appraising look that Faith was giving him. He sighed again and called out, "All right, Faith. . .let's get this over with. . .I don't want you to be stuck here all night with me."
Faith's eyes glinted wickedly at this comment, but she said nothing as she settled down next to him on the bed and began carefully kneading the knotted muscles in Giles' back and shoulders. While she kept up a professional, steady rhythm, she made a point of leaning as close to him as possible while working on the crucial areas. She could see him visibly relax, and heard his breathing slow. She smiled again and stood up, moving to the front of the bed and leaning over him to continue kneading his shoulders and neck. Nervous for the first time since arriving at the apartment, she waited to see how he would react.
Giles was feeling more relaxed than he had in quite some time, and he did not immediately notice Faith's change in position. After a moment, he opened his eyes and realized that Faith was leaning right over him. . .so close that he could detect the spicy, tangy scent that the light sheen of sweat visible on her neck and shoulders was giving off. Giles' entire body tingled as if an electric current had been briefly applied, and it took all of the control within him not to recoil in shock at the reaction he was having to Faith. Instead, he slowly pulled away from Faith and sat up, reaching for his shirt and casually dropping it in his lap as he commented, "Thank you, Faith. . .excellent job. Now, it's a Friday night, and I'm sure a lovely young woman such as yourself can find a pleasurable way to spend it that doesn't involve hanging out with a middle-aged librarian." His voice was calm, but he was painfully aware that the heat coming from his face meant that he was blushing more intensely than he had since before he was Faith's age.
Faith was silent for a moment, and Giles finally looked back and saw that she was watching him intently. Slowly, she moved from the foot of the bed and sat down next to him, watching him for a moment longer before replying, "You're right. . .I could. . .problem is, I don't want to." With that, she reached behind his head and pulled him gently but inexorably down into a kiss.
Giles didn't resist, and the kiss remained as it had began: soft and luxurious, rather than frantic or forceful. After thirty seconds, as if by mutual agreement, they pulled away from each other, and Faith looked at Giles, who clearly seemed to be at a loss for words. She waited a few more seconds, then prodded, "Uh, Giles. . .are you going to say something?"
The Watcher blinked and looked at Faith for a long moment, then stood and began to put his shirt back on. As he did so, he replied, "I think I had better leave, Faith."
Faith laughed involuntarily and reminded him, "Giles. . .this is your place, not mine."
Giles looked at her sharply and replied, "I know that, Faith. . .whatever has happened to my sanity in the last few minutes, it has not deprived me of that particular piece of information." He sighed and continued, "Faith. . .my judgment has obviously proved wanting. . .and I need to think about how I can salvage this situation."
Faith raised an eyebrow and retorted, "If you really want to 'salvage' this situation, you'll come back here and give me another one of those kisses. . .it's not too cool of you to lay a liplock like that on me and run off and leave me hot and bothered." She locked eyes with him, and the look she directed his way practically smoldered with sensuality.
Giles looked at her and mentally counted to ten to give himself time to compose a coherent reply. He coughed, then responded, "Faith. . .you have to know that I cannot allow this to proceed. It's wrong on any number of levels. . .how do you think Buffy would feel if she knew what was going on?"
Faith blinked, and her voice was cold as she replied, "Giles. . .Buffy's the nearest thing I've got to a big sister, and her opinion means a lot to me. . .but she doesn't call the shots in my love life. Besides, she knows what the score is. . .sharing Slayer's dreams spills a lot of secrets, you know."
Giles stared at her and filed away that particular piece of information for future reference before firing back, "All right. . .so Buffy isn't objecting. . .but that doesn't change any of the other objections. Faith, I used to be your Watcher. Any relationship of a romantic nature between us-"
"Bull, Giles." Faith's voice was blunt as she interrupted him. "Danielle is my Watcher now, not you. You're out of the chain of command as far as I'm concerned. I could walk out that door right now and you wouldn't have a damn thing to say about it. But I don't want to, and the fact that you used to be my Watcher doesn't give you a damn thing to say about that, either."
Giles looked at her silently, then nodded before continuing, "That doesn't change the fact that you're still underage. . .not to mention I'm none to sure of your judgment right now."
Faith snorted and replied, "I'll be eighteen in a month. . .I'm hardly a baby, Giles. . .and what the hell do you mean about my judgment? I-" She saw the guilty blink, then the naked concern in his eyes. . .and she knew what he was referring to. "Damn it, I told her not to tell you!" Her voice was an angry snarl as she paced angrily around the bedroom, continuing, "She had no right to tell you that!"
Giles stood up and restrained her gently, causing her to glare at him with visible outrage. He shook his head and explained, "Walter Morris called. . .he wanted me to help coordinate the staging of the event, including administering the. . .mixture. Obviously, he wasn't privy to your desire to keep things to yourself." He looked at her, and his tone was strained and worried as he whispered, "Faith. . .I cannot stress enough to you how dangerous your planned actions are. . .I almost lost Buffy to this foolish exercise, and I cannot bear the thought that this time this archaic barbarism will cost you your life."
Faith's glare softened, and she took his hand and led him downstairs back to the sofa, where they sat in silence for several minutes before she took a deep breath and told him about her plan, including how Xander, Willow and Oz had helped her. After she finished, she was pleased to see that some of the worry had gone out of his face, though his voice was still grim as he commented, "You have spent a lot of time thinking about this, Faith. . .and your plan seems to be sound, though I still despair at the unnecessary risk to your life." He looked at her with a sad smile on his face, then continued, "I didn't tell Buffy what I know. . .I take it that you wish her to remain ignorant of this?"
Faith nodded, and replied, "Yeah. . .I need to do this myself, Giles. . .without big sister looking over my shoulder. . .and she's got a lot of baggage about this whole thing, she'd just worry. That's why I didn't tell you. . .I need to do this, for a lot of reasons, and I don't want you guys trying to talk me out of it. Can you keep it to yourself, Giles?"
Giles nodded, then blinked as he realized there was still an unresolved matter between them. "Faith," he began, only to stop as Faith held up her hand to silence him.
He waited, and Faith looked at him sadly for a few seconds before whispering, "I can see that I'm not going to get through your sales resistance tonight, Giles, and as fun as the effort would be. . .I don't want to waste our time tonight on something that isn't going to happen yet." She leaned in and kissed him softly on the cheek, then stood and looked down at him before stating flatly, "But I am going to live through my Cruciamentum, Giles. . .and when I do you'll have one less excuse to use. I know what I want. . .and behind all of your excuses, I think you do too." She walked to the door and called out, "Sleep tight, Giles," before going out into the night.
The Watcher sat for fully ten minutes before rising and heading into the kitchen and tackling the pile of dishes that waited there. Giles had dealt with crises in the past that would have withered most souls who faced them, but he was looking at a conundrum in the person of a dark-eyed beauty who could bend a rifle barrel in her bare hands that had him momentarily at a loss. Shaking his head in a mixture of bewilderment and excitement, he focused on the task before him.
. . .to be continued
As always, comments are welcomed and desired