Chapter Two: All You Wanted
"B, I am really, really sorry." Faith apologizes to the small blonde practically bouncing from foot to foot as Buffy spreads out a checkered blanket underneath a thick oak tree. "About spilling the beans to your mom about how being a slayer works," she adds as she shifts the packed Tupperware container from hand to hand. "She was just so cool with everything it never clicked, you know, her not knowing one being called till the first one died."
She wondered how the older slayer could just sit there so calmly when she felt like she would burst at the seams if she didn't find some action. She'd always been a big bundle of energy growing up it was one of the reason's none of the foster families had wanted to adopt her. It was nothing though compared to the energy she felt flowing through her since she was called.
"It's no big, Faith." Buffy assures the hyperactive slayer, "true. It'll mean the little freedom I had is going to disappear faster then Marcie, but it'll be cool having overprotective mom around for awhile."
Faith hands Buffy the clear container, "we're friggin' slayers B, how can you stand it? Taking orders from somebody."
Buffy smirks at Faith's question as she pops open the lid to the food her and Faith had prepared. Faith's expression had been amusing when she realized the food wasn't to be eaten right then and there, the young girl seemed to have a bottomless pit for a stomach. It would be good to reign Faith in a little bit. "Better get use to it Faith. Mom's gonna expect it from you for the two weeks you're gonna be staying with us." Buffy tells Faith trying desperately not to laugh at her deer in the headlights expression.
"Why the hell would your mom care what I do?" She asks Buffy numbly, nobody had ever cared about what she had done before. Not even her watcher, as long as she was training and slaying the older woman didn't really pay attention to Faith's comings and goings. She was pretty much given a free ride, going wherever she felt like, doing anything or anyone she wanted.
"First thing," Buffy remarks grateful she had managed to get here early. It was giving her another chance to talk alone to Faith one on one. "Sit down," Buffy says grabbing hold of Faith's hand and pulling her down. "Relax for a little while, learn to enjoy the quite times... Trust me they don't last here in Sunnydale."
"Okay," Faith agrees settling down just off the blanket. "I can do relax," she mumbles softly as she bounces her foot softly tapping her hands on her knees.
Buffy smiles seeing Faith's relaxed state, "next thing is that mom's gonna feel responsible for you as long as you're at the house, it wouldn't matter if you were twenty... Instead of fifteen," Buffy finishes casually.
Faith freezes, coming to a complete stop for the first time that Buffy can remember. "How do?"
"I know your age?" She finishes the question, "let me see. I was fifteen, Kendra was fifteen. Most slayers are fifteen when their called. If you want to pretend you're older that's your business... I'm not going to say anything. Mom knows, asked me about it... And I wasn't going to lie to her. Said she was going to try and curb her motherly instincts around you, but... Giles probably knows, what with him being a watcher and all."
"You're not going to rat me out?" Faith asks nervously.
Buffy shakes her head, "I don't know why you have this need to make yourself out to be older then... But it's not my place to tell anybody," she says with a shrug. "Someday I hope you trust the gang enough to tell them... But again, it's your choice."
Xander smirks casually, "Ahh, Buffy and food." He remarks spotting the tiny blonde slayer.
"Maybe we shouldn't be too couple-y around Buffy," Willow mutters nervously.
"Oh, you mean 'cause of how the only guy that ever liked her turned into a vicious killer and had to be put down like a dog?" Cordelia asks the group in general, not that she expected an answer.
Xander admires his girlfriends normal lack of tack, "can she cram complex issues into a nutshell, or what?" He jokes lightly.
They come up around the tree just out of Buffy's view. "All right, prepare to uncouple," Oz begins as they take another step.
"Hey look Buffy brought a friend!" Willow exclaims excitedly as the groups sees Buffy's animated conversation with Faith.
"A very attractive, eye pleasing kind of friend." Xander comments lustily. Cordelia viscously pinches his arm, "Ow," he whines.
"You do of course realize every time you open you're mouth words come out which normally compel me to hurt you later for them?" She questions seriously.
"She's just joking," he informs the rest of them before looking at Cordelia. "Oh, god she's not joking," he whines.
"Don't they just look all cozy," Willow remarks feeling dejected. "Why didn't Buffy tell us she made a friend?" She wonders out loud surprised at the hurt in her voice.
Xander shrugs he would be happy to see Buffy happy, "maybe it's one of those sudden revelation things."
"This could be her way of getting over the whole Angel debacle," Cordelia replies. "Going for something completely opposite of tall, dark, homicidal, and dead," she points out cheerfully.
"Of course it just might be we haven't been Buffy's bestest buds since she got back," Oz comments dryly. Everybody had done their best to forget the argument that had erupted at Buffy's welcome home party. Unlike the zombies that had crashed the party moments later the issues that had fueled the original fight weren't just going to vanish into thin air because a magic mask was destroyed.
"Buffy," Xander greets her cheerily. "banned from campus, but not from our hearts, how are you and what's for lunch?" He asks sitting down next to Faith with Cordelia on his opposite side.
Oz climbs onto the bench sitting on the backrest, while Willow kneels down on the ground just to the side of the bench. Buffy smiles slightly, "oh, we just threw a few things together." She informs the group.
"When did you become Martha Stewart?" Cordelia asks impressed by the offering of food the two girls had prepared.
Buffy passes out drink bottles, "first of all, Martha Stewart knows jack about hand-cut prosciutto." She replies sounding slightly insulted by Cordelia's comment.
Xander quirks a smile, "I don't believe she slays, either."
Oz smiles slightly, "oh, I hear she can, but she doesn't like to." Both of them look at Faith who's sitting on the edge of the blanket watching the group interact. Suddenly they realize what they had just said.
Buffy smirks at their guilty expressions, "guys this here is Faith the vampire slayer. Faith this here is the gang. Willow Rosenburg."
"Red," Faith says with a grin.
"Oz," the young guitarist remarks saving Buffy the trouble.
"Like it," Faith comments.
"Cordelia Chase," Buffy continues. "The uncrowned Queen of Sunnydale high."
"CC," Faith responds shaking the taller girls hand.
"And finally Xander Harris," Buffy finishes introducing everyone.
"I see what you mean B," Faith replies. "X here doesn't even need to hear any naked stories and I already feel like I've showered."
"Naked," Xander utters the word quietly, almost reverently.
"Play nice Faith," Buffy remarks dryly.
"Vampire slayer," Willow breathes out like she's never heard the words before.
"That would explain Xander's instant drool level," Cordelia remarks causing Faith to chuckle. "So how's that working out for you?"
Faith had covered her shocked expression quickly. Her watcher had always told her she had to keep the fact that she was a slayer secret, which wasn't that hard for Faith considering she didn't actually have any friends. "Um... Pretty good," she hesitates slightly having been caught off guard. "Never get enough slaying," she smirks feeling a bit of her bravado coming back. "Kinda weird how a good night of slaying just always makes you hungry and horny," she remarks playfully as she digs into a plate of food she's set up for herself.
Everybody in the group turns to Buffy who stares back wide eyed, "Well... Sometimes I, I crave a nonfat yogurt afterwards," she tells them before shaking her head. She started to get the feeling having Faith around was going to keep her on her toes. "Second of all," she starts off trying to get the conversation back on track. "Way too much free time on my hands since I got kicked out of school," she finishes taking a drink from her water bottle.
"Oh, I know they'll let you back in," Willow replies taking a drink from her water bottle.
"Don't you and your mom have a meeting with Principal Snyder?" Xander questions her.
Buffy nods her head, "we're seeing Snyde-Man tomorrow." She responds to Xander's inquiry not sounding thrilled with the prospect.
"Ooo," Willow exclaims as she spots a boy. "Scott Hope at eleven o'clock," she tells Buffy causing her to look over. "He likes you. He wanted to ask you out last year, but you weren't ready then. But I think you're ready now, or at least in the state of pre-readiness to make conversation, or, or to do that thing with your mouth that boys like."
Buffy's head snaps back around she couldn't believe the words that had just come out of Willow's mouth. Willow suddenly looks disgusted as she hears the word that she's just said. "Oh! I didn't mean the bad thing with your mouth, I meant that little half-smile thing that you." She glares at Oz, "you're supposed to stop me when I do that."
Faith smiles broadly, "there's only one thing a girl does with her mouth that boys like Red," Faith comments saucily.
Willow looks at Faith shocked by the other slayers comment. Cordelia shakes her head, "might I say eww."
Oz smiles as he shakes his head at her, "I like when you do that," he comments taking Willow's mind of Faith for the moment.
"Hi Buffy," Scott says smiling as he walks by the small group.
"Hi," Buffy replies shyly with a little smile as Scott continues on his way.
Willow breaks out in a big grin, "I think that went very well. Don't you think that went very well?"
"He didn't try to slit our throats or anything," Cordelia says with a nod. "That's progress."
"Hey, did you do that little half-smile thing?" Willow questions Buffy.
Buffy sighs dramatically, "look, I'm not trying to snare Scott Hope."
"Why not B?" Faith remarks, "the guys a little hottie. You should go for it while you're still young enough to enjoy it."
Buffy smiles as she shakes her head at Faith's comment. Having her around was definitely going to force to stay on her toes. "I just want to get my life back, you know, do normal stuff."
"Like date?" Willow pushes.
"Well," Buffy begins smiling slight curve to her lips.
"I get it," Cordelia states as a sudden revelation comes to her as she smiles. Faith gives Cordelia a confused look, "not the horny thing. Yuck! But the two Slayer thing. There was one, and then Buffy died for, like, two minutes, so then Kendra was called, and then when she died, Faith was called."
"Oh, you wanna date. I saw that half-smile, you little slut." Xander says with a slight chuckle. Buffy leans slightly and punches Xander in the arm lightly. Xander smiles as he continues to chuckles, "ow," he whines with a slight wince and begins rubbing his arm.
"All right," Buffy admits. "Yes, date and shop and hang out and go to school and save the world from unspeakable demons. You know, I wanna do girlie stuff!"
Oz looks over at Faith as a thought suddenly occurs to him, "Uh, now, you both kill vamps, and who could blame you, but, I'm, I'm wondering about your position on werewolves."
Willow places her hand on Oz's knee, "Oz is a werewolf," she tells Faith.
Faith looks at them for a moment wondering if anything in this town was normal, "hey, as long as you don't go scratchin' at me or humpin' my leg, we're five-by-five, you know?"
Oz looks relieved, "fair enough."
Faith smiles ruthlessly, "The vamps, though, they better get their asses to defcon one." She points over to Buffy, "'cause you and I B, we are gonna have fun, you know."
"And over here," Willow remarks pointing to a set of doors, "we have the cafeteria where we were mauled by snakes." Her and Xander are giving Faith a tour of the school and a run down of their exploits.
Xander points down to the floor, "and this is the spot where Angel tried to kill Willow."
Willow quickly points to the lounge wanting to avoid the entire Angel subject for as long as possible. She smiles broadly as she exclaims, "oh! And over there in the lounge is where Spike and his gang nearly massacred us all on Parent-Teacher night." As they reach the stairs Willow points up to the landing, "oh, a-and up those stairs, I was sucked into a muddy grave."
They stop walking, "and they say young people don't learn anything in high school nowadays," Xander comments. "But, um, I've learned to be afraid," he finishes with a wide smile.
Faith returns their smiles finding the tour a little overwhelming. She was use to dealing with vamps, the occasional demon even but a lot of what these guys were talking about was almost to fantastical to be believable. She laughs slightly, "you guys are a hoot and a half. If I'd had friends like you in high school, I... Probably still would've dropped out. But I might've been sad about it, you know?"
Both Xander and Willow nod in agreement to Faith's statement as the dark hair slayer crosses her arms. Faith needed to find out what was wrong with Buffy, "hey, so what's up with B? I mean, she seems wound kinda tight. Needs to find the fun a little? Like you two." She turns a little so she could watch Buffy's two friends, "you guys have known B awhile now? Right?" She questions them becoming serious, "has she always been... I don't know, moody? Not knowing if she's up or down."
"Angel," Xander answers her. The anger was still strong in his voice even after the summer.
"Isn't he the one you said tried to kill Willow?" Faith asks them feeling confused.
"It's a long, complicated story," Willow replies hoping Xander wouldn't start in on his normal everything wrong in the world was Angel's fault.
Xander shrugs, "vamp cursed with a soul." Xander starts off, "Buffy gave him a big old happy, soul went bye, bye. He reverts back to form... Goes on big old killing spree, targeting Buffy's nearest and dearest. All the while the Buffster takes months before she finally does what she should've once he went back to his killing ways." Xander finishes off angrily. He glares at Willow for a minute before taking off down the corridor.
Willow watches Xander sadly for a moment before returning her attention to Faith, "Xander's right." She admits, "but there's a lot of stuff he doesn't know... He couldn't know. Things even I don't understand, but." She stops to take a deep breath of air, "she loved him. Totally, completely loved him... Loves probably if she's still acting the way you describe her. How do you get over having to kill someone you love that much?"
"How'd it go?" Buffy asks Faith as she stands from the bench she been sitting on while she waited for Faith to tour the school and meet Giles.
"You know if I had known watchers came that young and cute I would've requested a transfer awhile ago," Faith replies lightly as she falls into step alongside Buffy.
Buffy thinks for a moment tilting her head slightly, "granted he's better then Merrick, but eww!" She exclaims softly scrunching her face up lightly.
"Another ex?" Faith asks lightly.
Buffy looks at Faith confusedly, "hugh?" Shakes her head, "no," she takes a deep breath. "First watcher."
"Oh," Faith breathes softly. "He transfer out on you or something?" She asks after a moment.
Buffy glances at Faith from the corner of her eyes, "he died. Back in L A... Threw himself on this vamp that was about to kill me. He... I dusted the vamp later," she beams as she looks over at Faith. "Burnt down the school gym with him and a bunch of his minions inside."
Faith looks ahead wonderingly, "so then the council transferred you out here?" She asks the older slayer.
Buffy grunts out a short little laugh, "hardly. This was just the only school relatively close to L A that would take a delinquent like me. What with all the fighting... The skipping of classes... The burning down of the aforementioned gym. I'd quite being the slayer, wasn't going to do it anymore. It was costing me everything I had, my friends abandoned me, my folks broke up... I was turning into a freak. The thing everybody pointed at and talked about behind my back, all the while smiling to my face."
Faith shrugs feeling oddly compel to let Buffy see a little of herself, "before being called. New slayer and all that, I was pretty much alone all the time. Being a slayer has pretty much given me everything... Given my otherwise meaningless life a purpose."
Buffy drapes her arm around the younger girl. She could almost feel how much it had cost Faith just to get those few words out. "We're pretty pathetic for a couple of hot young slayers," she jokes lightly.
"So what are we gonna do about it?" Faith smiles back.
"I was kind of thinking we should train, then nap, hang at the bronze for awhile, and then go out patrolling." Buffy replies with a broad grin at the younger slayer.
"About the bronze thing, now I don't want you to be mad... But I kinda told Scott you were going to be there... Around eightish," Faith reluctantly informs Buffy.
"It's so great that you're a school girl again," Willow enthuses as her and Buffy enter the school library.
Buffy nods in agreement barely listening to Willow. She needed to find out more about Faith. The girl had started losing it the night before on patrol becoming so focused on one vampire, beating it to a pulp, it had almost gotten both of them killed. "Giles say what he wanted? Do you think he's mad?" She asks as they stop at the counter.
Nobody is in the room, bowls and jars of various dried herbs line the top of the counter. "No, I don't think so. I think he just needed to see you," she answers glancing around the room. "Have you ever noticed, though, when he is mad, but he's too English to say anything, he makes that weird cluck, cluck sound with his tongue?"
Giles rises up from behind the counter looking over the counter and what he has laid out on it. Buffy lifts her eyelids while she smiles at Willow, "hi, Giles!" She exclaims cheerfully.
Willow turns looking worried, "Oh, hi! Been there long?"
Giles ignores Willow for the moment, "Buffy, good timing." He looks around behind the counter, "I could use your help. I trust you remember the demon Acathla?" He asks her moving a few things.
"Giles, contain yourself," Buffy jokes lightly. "Yes, I'm back in school, but you know how it embarrasses me when you gush so." Giles looks up slightly annoyed, "Let's just skip all that and get straight to work."
Giles straightens looking a bit disconcerted, "Oh, ahhhh... Well, I, um... Well-w... O- o-of course, it's wonderful to have you back, i-i-it goes without saying." Buffy raises her eyebrows at him quirking one of her little smiles, "but." He begins as he notices her look, "you enjoy making me say it, don't you?" He questions amusedly. He sets his glasses back on his nose and continues looking around.
Buffy plays with one of the bowls on the counter, "okay, Acathla, huh? What are you doing, making him some demon pizza?" She jokes picking up a bundle of sage. She sniffs it gingerly and frowns. She holds over for Willow who takes a whiff smiling at the aroma.
"We need to make sure that he remains dormant and that the dimensional vortex is sealed tight. So I'm working on a binding spell," he explains patiently.
"Oh, a spell? Can I help?" Willow asks perking up considerably at the prospect of learning more about magic.
Giles looks slightly concerned at Willow's suggestion. He really didn't trust the pesky redhead when it came to harnessing magic. She was far too head strong and reckless when it came to controlling supernatural energies. She was far more likely to go off any way she wanted at any given time. "Possibly, with the research. It's very sensitive and."
"Oh! Who's more sensitive than me?" Willow asks with a slight frown sounding very much like a petulant child.
"And difficult spell," he continues through Willow's interruption. "It involves creating a... A... A protective circle around... Well, I don't want to bore you with the details, but, uh, well, there's a litany th... That one has to recite in Aramaic, and it's very specific. So I need to get a few details about your experience of defeating Acathla and Angel." He explains to them as he begins hunting for more ingredients.
"Fire away," Buffy says after a moments pause.
Giles looks over, "I've put the time at about, um," He checks a series of notes, "six seventeen, around... About half an hour after Xander rescued me," he finishes as he walks back to the counter.
"Less," Buffy responds. "More like ten minutes."
Giles makes a correction on his paper, "oh, was the vortex already open?"
Buffy nods slightly, "barely."
Giles makes a few more notes, "and Angel?" He inquires caustically.
"A big fight, Angel got the pointy end of the sword, Acathla sucked him into Hell instead of the world. That's about the it," she finishes flippantly as Giles continues to scribble down notes.
"Yes, well, that, um... Should be very helpful," Giles mumbles looking up.
Buffy looks at Giles, "is that about it?"
"It should do," he responds.
"Good, 'cause I got something a bit more of the here and now we need to talk about." Buffy says moving towards his office, "sorry Will." She adds when she sees Willow getting ready to follow, "strictly slayer stuff."
Buffy was hesitant to follow Giles into his office despite being the one who insisted on a meeting. She wondered how she was going to tell Giles that Faith wasn't playing with anything closely resembling a full deck. Giles closes the door as Buffy moves past him into his office, "I presume this has something to with Faith? Something you don't wish the others to know about yet."
"The girl's whacked Giles," she replies as she flops into the chair. Glancing up at Giles she sees his blank expression, "a little light in the loafers. A couple eggs got scrambled. Not in possession of all her marbles. Pick a metaphor and apply here," she finishes with a vague pointing gesture.
Giles walks around his desk slowly as Buffy spoke trying to process his young slayer's words. "What exactly are you talking about?" He inquires as he nears his chair.
Buffy sighs dramatically, "last night we're out patrolling. She's got a mouth on her and an opinion about everything," seeing Giles look she decides it might be best to continue her report. "We got jumped by these vamps. No big right?"
Giles looks as if he would want to be just about anywhere else at the moment, "wrong?"
"Right," Buffy agrees quickly. "Faith picks this one vamp and just starts beating on him like there was nothing else going on in the world. In the meantime I'm nearly turned into vamp chowder." She shakes her head slightly still dismayed by the experience, "I've never seen anything like it Giles. Faith was so caught up in that one vamp, like he had done something personally to her. She was so caught up in it she wasn't aware of anything else."
"Perhaps she's just one of those plunky fighters… Gets caught up," he trails off as Buffy gives him an indiscernible look. Breathing deeply he replies, "I'll contact the retreat. Talk to her watcher. See if she can shed some light on Faith's state of mind."
Buffy nods her head as she stands back up. Looking out through the blinds she watches her best friend for a moment. "Then you might want to do something about reigning Willow in."
"What was that?" The librarian asks looking up from his rolodex.
Turning back to face Giles, "Willow. Magic. Reign in." She says emphasizing each word. "She told me some of the things she did over the summer. Most of it didn't work, but some did. Just not how they were suppose to."
Giles frowns, "simple enough. I'll tell her to stop what she is doing immediately," he states firmly.
"And that's gonna work 'cause?" Buffy asks him in disbelieve. The man had been working side by side with them for almost two years and he still thought teenagers just did what they were told. "Would you? When you were our age if some stodgy old man came along and told you not to do something, what would you do?"
"What would you suggest then?" He asks a slight scowl marring his features.
"Well," Buffy begins with a look of deep speculation on her face. "We could always do what you suggest, which we both know that Willow would just go behind your back. She'd either try to learn it on her own or she'd hook up with someone like Amy." Looking up at Giles she gives him her best little girl face, "or you know. You could take her under your wing. Show her how magic is suppose to be used." Giles scowl becomes a full blown glare. "What would you rather have, her learning magic from Amy? On her own maybe? We both know what can happen that way."
They match stares for a moment before Giles finally exhales, "fine. I'll do what I can. No promises though," he adds after a moments hesitation.
"Thank you," Buffy replies giving Giles a quick hug. "Don't worry Willows a much better student then I am. She'll actually show up on time," her face falls suddenly as looks at her watch. "My English exam! I'm gonna be so late," she exclaims. Turning quickly she nearly rips the door off it's hinges as she pulls it open. "Later Wills!" She shouts running past the startled redhead.
Giles follows Buffy out of his office at a more sedate pace. Willow picks up another herb, "myronate root," she sighs inhaling slightly. "This mixed with a smidge of a virgin's blood," she begins before looking up at Giles normally kind face. Right now there is nothing kind about the stare he directs at the girl before him, "does something I know absolutely nothing about."
"What have you been doing?" He probes allowing a hint of disappointment to color his voice.
"Nothing," she sputters indignantly. "I mean I did the soul restoration. Which was a big bust," she adds unable to hide her disappointment. "If the spell had worked then Buffy wouldn't have had to kill Angel," she continues. She had been hoping the spell would work. She had tried and she had failed. She needed to get better so the next time she wouldn't fail. "And there was this power that I felt go through me. It was… I don't know what, but it made me feel alive."
"It can be a very dangerous experience. Channeling the kind of power you did. A few people, especially novices such as yourself, don't survive the experience. Those that do sometimes find themselves craving more of the same. Much like a junkie craving a fix I'd imagine," he informs her seriously.
"I was careful, really, really careful." She replies in a small voice.
"They're not only dangerous to yourself," he continues ignoring her comment. "But to those around you as well. The fact that you survived unharmed leads me to believe you'll continue experimenting with magic. Buffy has confirmed my fear and I happen to agree with her assessment. If I tell you to stop more then likely you'll ignore me and continue on your own or worse yet fall in with a group of morally ambiguous practitioners."
"Or," Willow breathes out hopefully.
"Or as Buffy suggest I could begin instructing you."
Willow's eyes brighten at the thought of Giles teaching her. "You mean that. You'd teach me how to do spells, conjurings and summonings… And, and transmutations, divination?"
Giles shakes his head slightly a small smile creeping across his face, "I'm not talking about teaching you as one of your teachers. Go to class, do assignments, homework and the like. I'm talking about an apprenticeship. You'll be here almost twenty-four hours a day. You'll run errands, research, train, study, and do whatever I deem necessary."
Willow frowns at Giles, "how's that any different from what I do now?" Her voice sounds dubious as she asks the questions.
Giles smirks as he replies lightly, "as an apprentice you'd actually have to listen to what I say."
"Oh."
________________________________________________________________________
All You Wanted - Michelle Branch
I wanted to be like you
I wanted everything
So I tried to be like you
And I got swept away
I didn't know that it was so cold
And you needed someone
to show you the way
So I took your hand and we figured out
That when the tide comes
I'd take you away
If you want to
I can save you
I can take you away from here
So lonley inside
So busy out there
And all you wanted
was somebody who cares
I'm sinking slowly
So hurry hold me
Your hand is all I have to keep me
hanging on
Please can you tell me
So I can finally see
Where you go when you're gone
If you want to
I can save you
I can take you away from here
So lonley inside
So busy out there
And all you wanted
was somebody who cares
All you wanted was somebody who cares
If you need me you know I'll be there
Oh, yeah
If you want to
I can save you
I can take you away from here
So lonley inside
So busy out there
And all you wanted
was somebody who cares
Please can you tell me
So I can finally see
Where you go when you're gone