Author's Note: Getting feedback from a lot of you expressing distaste
about Faith's relationship with Xander. While I understand your
reservations I don't agree and here's why:-
1. Angel's and Buffy's was always far more disturbing to me. Here's a guy who looks to be in his mid to late twenties making goo eyes at 15 yr old. At least in my story Faith's a year to two years older in looks than Xander. We've got a word for guys like that people.
2. Faith originally comes to town because of Xander looking like her brother sure, but that's not why she falls in love with him - subtle difference.
3. The adopted child issue. Okay, you got me there, I admit that's a tad disturbing. In my defence I would have to say that surely it's better for Xander to be with someone that cares for him than his bastard of a father.
All that said, keep the feedback coming gang, it's much appreciated (nearly as much as the food parcels).
Blood Tears 6 - Revealed Secrets
"So how long have you been training Xander?"
Faith started at the Slayer's question. They'd been patrolling for an hour and it was the first time that either of them had broken the uncomfortable silence that had existed since leaving her and Xander's house. Collecting her thoughts, the vampiress replied. "I let him have the first week off to recuperate from his injuries, so three weeks in all."
"And what have you been doing?"
"I want to get him in shape before I start actual combat training with him so we've been running every night as soon as night falls. He's been doing quite well too, slowly but surely improving."
"I run in the mornings, he could come with me," the Slayer said eagerly. "It's bound to be safer for him than at night."
The vampiress hesitated. On the one hand, she enjoyed running with Xander, seeing the pride in his eyes as he knocked seconds off his best time and his smile when she praised his efforts. On the other, they'd been attacked on two occasions, once by vampires and once by a gang of thugs. She'd been able to deal with the threats, but it would be selfish of her to risk Xander's safety if there was another option. Forcing a smile, the vampiress nodded. "That's a very good idea B. If you organise it with Xand, that'll be good."
"I could help you with his other training when the equipment comes too."
Thinking back to the sparring sessions she'd seen between the Slayer and Giles, Faith shook her head. "No thank you," seeing the Slayer open her mouth to protest, Faith hurried to explain. "B, I've seen you spar and you're an excellent fighter. But there's two problems with you training with Xand. One, because of your special abilities you do a lot of moves that just aren't feasible for an ordinary mortal, trying to teach Xand to fight like you would be a waste of time, so I'm going with a more ground- orientated style that utilises Judo and Aikido techniques and concentrates on using your opponent's strength against them. Secondly, I've seen you spar with Giles and although Giles is very talented for a mortal, you completely out-class him. Now Giles is secure enough in his own abilities and worth for it not to hurt his ego too much, but Xand," Faith's tone hardened. "Thanks to his darling father has a huge inferiority complex."
Disappointment filled the Slayer's green eyes but eventually she nodded. "Okay," she said her voice small. "It's just that I want to help him as much as possible. I've been so horrible to him."
Her heart aching at the pain she heard in the blonde's voice, Faith placed a comforting hand on the younger woman's shoulder. She'd obviously badly misjudged the Slayer. The way she'd treated Xander had not been caused by callousness and indifference but by insecurity and fear. "He's doing all this because he loves you," she said softly, her heart breaking as she spoke.
Some of the pain she felt must have made its way into her voice because the Slayer's eyes widened. "You love him too!"
Before Faith had a chance to utter a half-hearted denial to the blonde, she sensed the approach of vampires. For once thankful to her brethren, she turned to face the intruders. "Vamps, nine of them."
"This is so not over," warned the Slayer before also turning to face the vampires surrounding them. "So guys," she asked cheerfully. "Which one wants sweeping up first?"
Without waiting for an answer, the Slayer exploded into action, her body a blur as she threw herself at the approaching vampires. Faith preferred a more relaxed approach. Palming a stake, she waited for them to reach her. She didn't have to wait long.
Ducking beneath a wild haymaker, she came up inside her adversary's defences. His eyes widened in shock as she plunged her stake into his heart. Grinning slightly, the vampiress smashed a forearm into the face of an attacker to her left, sending teeth flying. A small hand landed on her shoulder from behind, grabbing it, the vampiress executed a judo throw and threw a blonde-haired vampiress to the ground at her feet, crouching she quickly staked the vampiress before standing again. Twisting round as she heard a footfall behind her, she sent a foot crashing into his gut, splintering ribs and sending her attacker fall to the ground.
Faith spun back round to face the vampire she'd hit in the mouth and screamed in agony as the vampire thrust a knife hilt-deep into her stomach. Ignoring the pain that reverberated through her body, the vampiress pulled away from her attacker, wrenching loose his grip on the knife, before stepping back in with a head butt to the face, quickly followed by a stake to the heart.
The side of her head exploded in pain as a powerfully swung beer bottle crashed into it. Blinking furiously to clear her vision, Faith staggered round to face her assailant only to take another hard blow to the face. Suddenly her attacker, a hulking black vampire, lifted her into the air. Even as she plunged her final stake into its heart, the vampire flung her into the air.
The vampiress' landing was broken by a tombstone that shattered under the impact. Groaning at the agony racing through her body, Faith tucked her legs underneath her for a leap up only for the vampire she'd earlier kicked in the stomach to grab her right leg and twist it violently, breaking it at the knee.
Unable to contain her pain, Faith screamed. His ugly face set in sadistic glee, the vampire drove a dagger through her right arm pinning it to the ground. "Like that bitch?" the vampire sneered before grabbing her chin roughly. "Angelus' orders are we kill you on sight. Shame really. You're a real babe, still I'll get the pick of the town's women after I've offed you. Unless," his hand moved down her body, stopping at her breasts and roughly squeezing them, "you wanna make me a better offer?"
Lacking the strength to reply, Faith glared up defiantly and spat in her opponent's face. The vampire chuckled. "Guess that's a no then." He reached inside his duster and pulled out an axe.
* * *
As she finished off her fourth vampire, Buffy saw Faith's last attacker raise an axe. For a split second, she considered leaving the vampire to kill her rival for Xander's affections but even as the idea occurred, she rejected it. Racing over to the vampiress, she covered the last feet with a diving leap before clotheslining the vampire to the ground, grabbing its dropped axe and decapitating the beast with a single swing.
Dropping the axe, she hurried over to the groaning vampiress. If the vampiress had been human, she would have probably been dead from the shock alone. The left side of her face was completely caved in, while the right side had a deep gash above a rapidly swelling eye. The knife wound in her belly was about five inches wide, while the knife in her right bicep had gone completely through and the bone of her right leg had torn through the skin just below the knee.
The disgust Buffy felt must have shown on her face because the vampiress smiled painfully. "Thanks for the save B, I think my plan of lulling him into a false sense of security went a little too far."
Buffy forced a replying smile. "Well you had me convinced." She looked at the knife embedded through Faith's upper arm. "This is going to hurt," she warned before grabbing the blade and pulling it out.
Faith screamed out, her shriek echoing through the Slayer's ears. "You weren't kidding," the vampiress panted in pain. "If you can help me home, I'll be right by the morning."
Buffy shook her head. "My place's closer."
"You don't understand," the vampiress looked away, her face ashamed. "I need blood to recover."
"Oh," an entirely unpleasant idea occurred to the Slayer. "I'm betting that Slayer's blood's better than normal blood." At Faith's weak nod, she sighed and sliced her forearm open with the knife she'd pulled from Faith's bicep and held her bleeding arm above the brunette's mouth.
The vampiress gasped as the blood dripped into her mouth, her fangs lengthened and her eyes glittered golden. When the blood had finished flowing into her mouth, Faith nodded gratefully. "Thanks."
"I didn't do it for you, I did it for Xander," replied Buffy stiffly. Her tone masked the conflicting emotions inside her. Since her earlier conversation with the vampiress and looking at the simple gratitude in the vampiress' eyes, she'd begun regarding the vampiress not as a barely tolerated evil but as a welcome ally. "Can you stand now?"
The vampiress nodded. "But you'll have to help me."
* * *
"Nine killed!" The handsome, powerfully built vampire's fist slammed into the wooden table before him, smashing it in two. "Damn that Slayer! And damn that treacherous bitch!" Angelus' eyes blazed with fury at the thought of his childe. For the first 150 years of his unlife, he'd stalked the world alone, taking and discarding women as he'd wished. She'd been the first to catch his eye as a potential mater and how did she repay his generosity? By betraying him!
At his rage, the majority of the vampires retreated from the room. One of the few to remain was a bleached blond with a ripcord lean physique and a deadly grace unusual even amongst his race. "Calm down mate," drawled the vampire, his accent that of a working-class Cockney, an expression of mirth flickering across his chiselled features. "If you had a working heart you'd have a bloody stroke."
Angelus' eyes glittered dangerously. "Be very careful Spike," he warned coldly. "I want the whore's little brat. From all accounts, she dotes on him. If we torture him to death then send his body back to her pieces, we'll drive her mad."
"And how do you propose to do that, dear old dad?" asked Spike as he dropped into a chair, draping one leg over a chair arm. "She watches the whelp like a bloody hawk."
"You catch more flies with honey than shit," cooed a female voice. The speaker, a gorgeous blonde who looked to be in her early twenties, stepped out of the shadows and kissed Angelus hungrily on the lips. "Why don't you let me and Dru get him for you?"
"Yes daddy please." The vampiress who spoke was a slender woman with long wavy brown hair, exotic features and more than a hint of insanity in her eyes. "Let us," she pressed into Angelus' side."
A smile on his face, Angelus turned to the blonde. "Does my Darla have a plan?"
The blonde smiled evilly. "I have a plan."
1. Angel's and Buffy's was always far more disturbing to me. Here's a guy who looks to be in his mid to late twenties making goo eyes at 15 yr old. At least in my story Faith's a year to two years older in looks than Xander. We've got a word for guys like that people.
2. Faith originally comes to town because of Xander looking like her brother sure, but that's not why she falls in love with him - subtle difference.
3. The adopted child issue. Okay, you got me there, I admit that's a tad disturbing. In my defence I would have to say that surely it's better for Xander to be with someone that cares for him than his bastard of a father.
All that said, keep the feedback coming gang, it's much appreciated (nearly as much as the food parcels).
Blood Tears 6 - Revealed Secrets
"So how long have you been training Xander?"
Faith started at the Slayer's question. They'd been patrolling for an hour and it was the first time that either of them had broken the uncomfortable silence that had existed since leaving her and Xander's house. Collecting her thoughts, the vampiress replied. "I let him have the first week off to recuperate from his injuries, so three weeks in all."
"And what have you been doing?"
"I want to get him in shape before I start actual combat training with him so we've been running every night as soon as night falls. He's been doing quite well too, slowly but surely improving."
"I run in the mornings, he could come with me," the Slayer said eagerly. "It's bound to be safer for him than at night."
The vampiress hesitated. On the one hand, she enjoyed running with Xander, seeing the pride in his eyes as he knocked seconds off his best time and his smile when she praised his efforts. On the other, they'd been attacked on two occasions, once by vampires and once by a gang of thugs. She'd been able to deal with the threats, but it would be selfish of her to risk Xander's safety if there was another option. Forcing a smile, the vampiress nodded. "That's a very good idea B. If you organise it with Xand, that'll be good."
"I could help you with his other training when the equipment comes too."
Thinking back to the sparring sessions she'd seen between the Slayer and Giles, Faith shook her head. "No thank you," seeing the Slayer open her mouth to protest, Faith hurried to explain. "B, I've seen you spar and you're an excellent fighter. But there's two problems with you training with Xand. One, because of your special abilities you do a lot of moves that just aren't feasible for an ordinary mortal, trying to teach Xand to fight like you would be a waste of time, so I'm going with a more ground- orientated style that utilises Judo and Aikido techniques and concentrates on using your opponent's strength against them. Secondly, I've seen you spar with Giles and although Giles is very talented for a mortal, you completely out-class him. Now Giles is secure enough in his own abilities and worth for it not to hurt his ego too much, but Xand," Faith's tone hardened. "Thanks to his darling father has a huge inferiority complex."
Disappointment filled the Slayer's green eyes but eventually she nodded. "Okay," she said her voice small. "It's just that I want to help him as much as possible. I've been so horrible to him."
Her heart aching at the pain she heard in the blonde's voice, Faith placed a comforting hand on the younger woman's shoulder. She'd obviously badly misjudged the Slayer. The way she'd treated Xander had not been caused by callousness and indifference but by insecurity and fear. "He's doing all this because he loves you," she said softly, her heart breaking as she spoke.
Some of the pain she felt must have made its way into her voice because the Slayer's eyes widened. "You love him too!"
Before Faith had a chance to utter a half-hearted denial to the blonde, she sensed the approach of vampires. For once thankful to her brethren, she turned to face the intruders. "Vamps, nine of them."
"This is so not over," warned the Slayer before also turning to face the vampires surrounding them. "So guys," she asked cheerfully. "Which one wants sweeping up first?"
Without waiting for an answer, the Slayer exploded into action, her body a blur as she threw herself at the approaching vampires. Faith preferred a more relaxed approach. Palming a stake, she waited for them to reach her. She didn't have to wait long.
Ducking beneath a wild haymaker, she came up inside her adversary's defences. His eyes widened in shock as she plunged her stake into his heart. Grinning slightly, the vampiress smashed a forearm into the face of an attacker to her left, sending teeth flying. A small hand landed on her shoulder from behind, grabbing it, the vampiress executed a judo throw and threw a blonde-haired vampiress to the ground at her feet, crouching she quickly staked the vampiress before standing again. Twisting round as she heard a footfall behind her, she sent a foot crashing into his gut, splintering ribs and sending her attacker fall to the ground.
Faith spun back round to face the vampire she'd hit in the mouth and screamed in agony as the vampire thrust a knife hilt-deep into her stomach. Ignoring the pain that reverberated through her body, the vampiress pulled away from her attacker, wrenching loose his grip on the knife, before stepping back in with a head butt to the face, quickly followed by a stake to the heart.
The side of her head exploded in pain as a powerfully swung beer bottle crashed into it. Blinking furiously to clear her vision, Faith staggered round to face her assailant only to take another hard blow to the face. Suddenly her attacker, a hulking black vampire, lifted her into the air. Even as she plunged her final stake into its heart, the vampire flung her into the air.
The vampiress' landing was broken by a tombstone that shattered under the impact. Groaning at the agony racing through her body, Faith tucked her legs underneath her for a leap up only for the vampire she'd earlier kicked in the stomach to grab her right leg and twist it violently, breaking it at the knee.
Unable to contain her pain, Faith screamed. His ugly face set in sadistic glee, the vampire drove a dagger through her right arm pinning it to the ground. "Like that bitch?" the vampire sneered before grabbing her chin roughly. "Angelus' orders are we kill you on sight. Shame really. You're a real babe, still I'll get the pick of the town's women after I've offed you. Unless," his hand moved down her body, stopping at her breasts and roughly squeezing them, "you wanna make me a better offer?"
Lacking the strength to reply, Faith glared up defiantly and spat in her opponent's face. The vampire chuckled. "Guess that's a no then." He reached inside his duster and pulled out an axe.
* * *
As she finished off her fourth vampire, Buffy saw Faith's last attacker raise an axe. For a split second, she considered leaving the vampire to kill her rival for Xander's affections but even as the idea occurred, she rejected it. Racing over to the vampiress, she covered the last feet with a diving leap before clotheslining the vampire to the ground, grabbing its dropped axe and decapitating the beast with a single swing.
Dropping the axe, she hurried over to the groaning vampiress. If the vampiress had been human, she would have probably been dead from the shock alone. The left side of her face was completely caved in, while the right side had a deep gash above a rapidly swelling eye. The knife wound in her belly was about five inches wide, while the knife in her right bicep had gone completely through and the bone of her right leg had torn through the skin just below the knee.
The disgust Buffy felt must have shown on her face because the vampiress smiled painfully. "Thanks for the save B, I think my plan of lulling him into a false sense of security went a little too far."
Buffy forced a replying smile. "Well you had me convinced." She looked at the knife embedded through Faith's upper arm. "This is going to hurt," she warned before grabbing the blade and pulling it out.
Faith screamed out, her shriek echoing through the Slayer's ears. "You weren't kidding," the vampiress panted in pain. "If you can help me home, I'll be right by the morning."
Buffy shook her head. "My place's closer."
"You don't understand," the vampiress looked away, her face ashamed. "I need blood to recover."
"Oh," an entirely unpleasant idea occurred to the Slayer. "I'm betting that Slayer's blood's better than normal blood." At Faith's weak nod, she sighed and sliced her forearm open with the knife she'd pulled from Faith's bicep and held her bleeding arm above the brunette's mouth.
The vampiress gasped as the blood dripped into her mouth, her fangs lengthened and her eyes glittered golden. When the blood had finished flowing into her mouth, Faith nodded gratefully. "Thanks."
"I didn't do it for you, I did it for Xander," replied Buffy stiffly. Her tone masked the conflicting emotions inside her. Since her earlier conversation with the vampiress and looking at the simple gratitude in the vampiress' eyes, she'd begun regarding the vampiress not as a barely tolerated evil but as a welcome ally. "Can you stand now?"
The vampiress nodded. "But you'll have to help me."
* * *
"Nine killed!" The handsome, powerfully built vampire's fist slammed into the wooden table before him, smashing it in two. "Damn that Slayer! And damn that treacherous bitch!" Angelus' eyes blazed with fury at the thought of his childe. For the first 150 years of his unlife, he'd stalked the world alone, taking and discarding women as he'd wished. She'd been the first to catch his eye as a potential mater and how did she repay his generosity? By betraying him!
At his rage, the majority of the vampires retreated from the room. One of the few to remain was a bleached blond with a ripcord lean physique and a deadly grace unusual even amongst his race. "Calm down mate," drawled the vampire, his accent that of a working-class Cockney, an expression of mirth flickering across his chiselled features. "If you had a working heart you'd have a bloody stroke."
Angelus' eyes glittered dangerously. "Be very careful Spike," he warned coldly. "I want the whore's little brat. From all accounts, she dotes on him. If we torture him to death then send his body back to her pieces, we'll drive her mad."
"And how do you propose to do that, dear old dad?" asked Spike as he dropped into a chair, draping one leg over a chair arm. "She watches the whelp like a bloody hawk."
"You catch more flies with honey than shit," cooed a female voice. The speaker, a gorgeous blonde who looked to be in her early twenties, stepped out of the shadows and kissed Angelus hungrily on the lips. "Why don't you let me and Dru get him for you?"
"Yes daddy please." The vampiress who spoke was a slender woman with long wavy brown hair, exotic features and more than a hint of insanity in her eyes. "Let us," she pressed into Angelus' side."
A smile on his face, Angelus turned to the blonde. "Does my Darla have a plan?"
The blonde smiled evilly. "I have a plan."