CHAPTER TWO: DANCING
Convincing her mother hadn't been as hard as she thought it would be. All Buffy had had to do was describe in detail the way that Faith had died. Joyce had been horrified. She'd immediately handed Buffy's passport and a credit card to her and told her to be careful. Giles had told her that he would deal with Wesley. All Buffy needed to worry about was finding Faith, and keeping away from Quentin Travers or any other Council members.
Buffy stepped off the plane, and nervously made her way with her one bag of luggage towards the bus depot. She had spent the better part of the previous afternoon with Willow, poring over bus timetables to get to the right area of Boston.
The Slayer found the right bus and found herself on the way to the hotel that was closest to the address that she'd got from the copy of Wesley's files. She held the profile in her hands, finding herself unable to look away from the picture of Faith.
There was something strangely vulnerable about the girl, even though she looked like someone that Buffy would have been terrified of before being Called. Buffy sighed, and hoped that she would be able to help this girl without putting Faith in danger, or offending her.
Buffy sighed and stepped off the bus as it pulled up in front of the Hotel that Buffy was staying at. She hefted her duffle bag onto her shoulder and made her way into the reception area. The room that she had rented, courtesy of her mom's credit card, wasn't five star, but it suited her purposes. It was a single room with a bathroom attached to it as well as a small kitchenette.
She dumped her bags on the bed, grabbed her jacket and several of the weapons that she'd managed to smuggle aboard in her luggage that had been under the plane, and walked into the cooling night air. She wandered the streets, surprised by how quiet it was.
Of course, the minute she'd thought it was quiet, a scream sounded, echoing in the empty air. Buffy ran quickly, following her senses and running towards the scene of the fight. She slowed to a step when she saw that someone had already answered the cry for help.
Buffy immediately backed into the shadows, watching as the other Slayer danced in the lethal way that all Slayers did. Buffy found herself entranced by the way the girl moved. Buffy wondered if her friends often stood in the background, watching her fighting in the same way that she watched Faith.
The brunette girl was brutal, using no real martial arts technique, only brute strength and instinct. She was good and Buffy found herself smiling without knowing the real reason why. The vampire went up in a cloud of dust, and Faith brushed herself off.
She began walking away but stopped abruptly, tensing and listening hard. Buffy stood completely still, breathing as quietly as she possibly could and keeping herself in the shadows. After several seconds, Faith shrugged and continued walking. Buffy could only follow at a safe distance.
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Buffy followed Faith into a nightclub that was nothing like the Bronze. Smoke hung in the air, the smell of sweat, sex and alcohol permeating her senses. She watched as Faith made her way to the bar and ordered a drink. She idly wondered how Faith managed to buy alcohol when she was so clearly underage.
Faith threw back a shot – a cowboy - and moved onto the dance floor, casually stealing another girls partner and beginning to dance sensually with him.
The dark-haired Slayer moved against him, using her body like a weapon. Her arms closed around his neck like a vice and linked behind his head, her face lit with a grin as she slid up and down his torso. She uttered words that made the boy laugh and blush, but Buffy was too far away to hear what she was saying. Suddenly Faith released her hold on his neck and spun around so her back was flush against his chest, dipping up and down, hands along his thighs. She tossed her hair and turned her head so her cheek brushed his briefly and bit his neck. Buffy grinned, appreciating from the shadows the irony of such a gesture from a fellow Slayer.
The boy began to reciprocate Faith's advances, his hands on her hips, beginning to slide possessively around her waist. He leaned into her neck and started to move with the rhythm of her body. It was at this point that Faith slipped out of his grasp and pulled his head sharply into a kiss before fluttering her fingers and disappearing into the crowd. There, then gone. The boy stood bewildered on the edge of the teeming mass of people, visibly trembling with lust and a great deal of anger at being left behind.
So this was Faith's style. Buffy didn't know whether to grin or frown. She was interrupted from her semi-stalking when a voice from next to her asked her to dance. She looked at the man who had asked her to dance and nodded, accepting his hand as he led her out onto the dance floor.
Buffy found a spot on the dance floor so that she could keep an eye on Faith, wanting to observe the other Slayer whilst staying as inconspicuous as possible. Her dance partner barely noticed that Buffy was paying very little attention to him.
Faith suddenly stopped dancing and looked across the dance floor, trying to find whoever or whatever it was that was making her Slayer-senses go haywire. The feelings she was getting were slightly different than the usual tingles she got from vampires.
Her eyes were drawn to a small blonde girl on the other side of the room, dancing against a tall brown haired man. Faith couldn't explain the sudden connection she felt to the girl. It wasn't that Faith hadn't been with girls before, but she'd never been with a girl like that before. There was a certain innocence and vulnerability to the blonde girl that Faith was usually turned off by. But Faith knew –instinctively knew- that there was something different about the girl on the dance floor.
Their eyes met, and Faith found herself completely enthralled. She sucked in an involuntary breath and found herself moving against her newest partner in a predatory way, not for his sake, but for the blonde girl's.
Buffy found herself doing a sudden repeat of the 'mating dance' against this virtual stranger. Without thought, the two girls moved closer to each other, their partners following them blindly. They met in the middle of the dance floor, still looking at each other.
Without warning, they simultaneously moved away from their partners, their hands reaching out to each other. They were oblivious to the stares of their respective partners frustrated and bewildered looks. Buffy's partner lingered for a moment, wondering what exactly had just happened. He saw that his partner had completely dropped him for a girl. He turned and walked away, Faith's partner following suit after standing and watching the girls moving together for a moment longer. He grinned and moved to a table, content to watch the two girls dance together.
The other people on the dance floor suddenly began watching the two girls, rather than concentrating on their own partners. The boys could only watch with slack-jawed expressions, as the girls moved away in disgust and jealousy at having their partners suddenly paying them no attention.
Buffy and Faith didn't even notice what had happened around them. They were so caught up in the beat and the tingling sensation of being in the presence of another Slayer. Buffy had never had enough time around Kendra to appreciate the feeling of being with another Slayer.
For hours they danced, their Slayer stamina enabling them to continue without having to take a break. Their bodies were in tune with the music and with each other – incredibly close but never touching, except for moments when their fingers would brush and each girl would gasp a startled breath. No words passed between them, both of them relishing the mood and wanting it to remain untainted.
Faith was suitably impressed that the blonde girl was able to keep up with her. She'd never found anyone who could match her strengths, and she was beginning to wonder who or what this girl was. She could feel something significant crackling in the air, and she wanted desperately to find out what it was.
Before she could move in closer to ask the girl, she felt a sharp tap on her shoulder. She reluctantly broke away from the girl and looked at the intruder. Her face fell as she saw her Watcher, Joanna Braidwood. She sighed and nodded at the silent plea from her Watcher. She turned back to her dance partner, reluctance on her face.
Buffy nodded with regret and let her partner leave, Faith looking over her shoulder to glance once more at the blonde girl before she walked out into the cool night air.
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S&K