That night, Faith went with Xander and Willow to the Bronze again, and forbade either of them from leaving with anyone until they'd introduced that anyone to her. They happily agreed, not wanting any replays of the other night.
"So how's Sunnydale treating you?" Xander asked jovially, trying to lighten the mood. Jesse's death was still hanging over them all.
"It's a shit hole." Faith replied with a smile.
"Great. Good start." Xander replied. Faith chuckled.
"Sorry X-man- it's nothing personal- you guys are definitely and upside to the shit hole."
Xander smiled proudly, and Willow giggled. "D'you reckon I could get that dude to serve me?" Faith asked, looking hopefully at the barman.
"Not a chance." Xander told her, "That guy's been here years, and has NEVER forgotten to check ID."
"I'm sure I could convince him…" Faith said with a dangerous smile.
"Ew, and wouldn't it be easier to get some unsuspecting guy you'll never have to see again to buy you a…" He stopped when he realised she wasn't paying any attention, just gazing across the room.
"Back in a sec." She said vacantly. Xander frowned as he watched the slayer walk over to a tall guy with dark hair.
"I was joking." Xander moaned. Willow patted his arm sympathetically.
"Hi." Faith said to the vamp who'd been following her the other night, "Why are you watching me?… actually forget that… why shouldn't I kill you- yeah that's the one." She nodded to herself. The vamp laughed shortly.
"You're spunky."
Faith ground her teeth.
"Not a very good reason." She reached round to the back of her trousers where a stake was concealed.
"Whoa whoa whoa." He said, raising his hands in surrender, "Just playin' with you slayer. I'm here cos you need to watch your back- the harvest is…"
"Cut the friggin' cryptic and tell me what you need to say right now, or I'm gonna introduce you to my little friend- his name is woody… an' I'm not talking toy story."
The vamp grinned.
"The master will use one of his cronies as a vessel- he'll have a funny sign on his forehead. The vessel will feed, and the master will grow stronger, eventually breaking free."
"The master…?"
"Oh lord." He said, rolling his eyes. "Ask your watcher, little girl- you don't have much time." He darted sideways, but Faith grabbed his arm.
"Who are you and why are you helping me?" She asked, "…If that's what you'd call it." She added. He grinned,
"Name's Angel."
"Ironic."
"Whatever. Just heed my warning, slayer." And he was gone before she could say any more.
"Creep." She murmured, before rejoining the others.
"Who was that?" Xander asked.
"Creep vampire who followed me the other night."
"Huh?" Willow was alarmed.
"Don't sweat it Will… I think… can't believe I'm saying this, but he seems to be a good guy. Don't have a clue how that happened, but anyway… how about getting' that drink…" Xander chuckled, and she grinned, she liked Xander, and Willow, though she'd decided she needed to do some serious confidence work on the latter…
The three sat together talking for a while, until Faith suddenly frowned, glancing around.
"What?" Xander asked.
"Something feels very wrong."
"Wow- you have a spidey sense?"
"Somehing like tha… oh crap." She trailed off as a large vamp walked onto the stage.
"This is a glorious night!" He proclaimed, "It is also the last one any of you will ever see! Bring me the first!" Another vamp dragged the doorman onto the stage. Faith's eyes widened. The first vamp had a symbol on his forehead- he was the one who had turned up out. He grabbed the doorman by the throat, wrapping his other arm around his neck. "Watch me people. Fear is like an elixir. It's almost like blood." He bent his neck and began to feed. Faith leapt up, ignoring Xander and Willow's protests.
"Stop!" She yelled. The vampire looked up, very irritated. "You don't want lard bucket. I'm the one your master really wants." She purred.
"Slayer." The vampire growled, dropping the limp doorman to the side.
"Got it in one big guy." Faith began her slow approach to the stage. Humans dodged quickly out of the way, while vampires didn't dare to come near her, fearing that either they would be killed, or they would kill her, and the vessel wouldn't get her full life force for the master.
"She's crazy!" Xander whispered to Willow.
"Already knew that one." She replied.
"We have to do something!!" Xander told her. She nodded, and followed him as he quietly made his way to the back exit, ignored as all attention was on Faith and the Vampire. One vamp stood guard at the door. "Will- this is your moment."
"What!?" She exclaimed.
"It's a guy… go be girly, and then stake him." He handed her a stake he'd had hidden in his baggy trousers.
"NO WAY!" She retorted. She glanced over towards Faith, who had just reached the stairs to the stage. The slayer returned the glance so quickly that it was mistaken by all others as a paranoid look for other vamps. But Willow now realised that Faith was relying on them to get the humans out – Faith had looked towards the door, where they were, not the table where they had been. Faith knew they'd moved. She wanted them to move. Willow made a small squeaking noise, but gripped the stake. Xander's jaw dropped as she began to swagger towards the vamp. He swallowed.
"Hey there." Willow purred, her heart racing. The stake was behind her back. The vampire frowned, but looked her over. The others were all concentrating on the slayer… surely they wouldn't notice if he took just one?
"Hey girly." He replied, allowing the 'helpless, stupid human' to step closer. "What do you want, baby?" He asked.
"Just this." She spat, thrusting the hidden stake into his heart. A surprised look crossed his face before he disintegrated. Xander and Willow hurriedly began to usher humans out, counting the seconds before someone would notice.
"HEY!" The vessel cried. Time up. Faith leapt the last few meters, knocking the vessel down while he was shocked. But he was up again quickly, growling. Faith fought with him, briefly, finally managing to stake him. The rest of the place was chaos. Humans were running, vampires were grabbing at them… but Faith noticed one thing- none of the vamps were killing, they were too scared of angering the master- they'd been told they were all for the vessel. So Faith started staking left right and centre, picking up a useful symbol to behead a couple… It wasn't long before the vamps were fleeing, and as the majority of the humans had already done the same, Faith, Xander and Willow were left almost all alone. Faith met them half way across the room,
"Way ta go Will." She said grinning. Willow smiled sheepishly, and Faith grabbed her just as she collapsed in a faint. She hauled her to a seat near the bar. The barman was standing stock still, eyes wide and terrified. Faith smiled, and sat at the bar. "How about a beer?" Faith asked.
"I need ID…" He said, but Faith just raised her eyebrows and glanced around. He shrugged, and handed her a bottle. "On the house." He said, with a small smile.
----
Please review.