Disclaimer. Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own the characters. But I get to play with them.

Author's note: Welcome back, if you're following along with this story. Hope so far hasn't been too much of a disappointment.

Summer of  faith

Chapter 3

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Buffy:

Ok, I admit it. I am way nervous. I don't know how to read Faith, and it is like making me all jumpy. One minute she is all sweet and friendly, next minute it is like she is getting all flirty and trying to make me uncomfortable. It is totally weird. Ok, lets not forget that alley scene either where I saw Faith lay into those vamps slayer style. So, she is a slayer. Probably activated after Drusilla killed  Kendra. Other than that, she is mystery woman. And I can't get a clue as to the real Faith. Did I mention she is making me nervous?

Faith:

This little blonde Anne is making me crazy. I am getting all sorts of mixed signals from her. There is this aura of Miss Apple pie around her. Kinda sweet, I guess, if that is your thing(ok, I find it fascinating, sue me). But underneath it is this unconscious sexual thing going on, and I pick those up too… making me crazy and horny. Damn her, what IS it? And on top of it all, there is this little mystery cloud surrounding her, which is totally fascinating and a little scary at the same time. Yeah. Me. Ms. Nothing frightens me, a bit scared. Figure that.

So I ask her if she has a fake ID, cause you know we will be carded at the club. And Miss Pure and Wholesome pulls out this Driver's license that could almost fool a cop. I am impressed. Ms. Blondie has done this before. I swear, just when I am thinking I am getting a handle on her, she keeps pulling these surprises.

Buffy:

So, we approach the club, and I can hear where they get their name. Even out here it is pretty loud. I can imagine what my ears are gonna feel like once we are inside.  And we hit the door, and there is the door guy, checking ID's. too typical, so we whip 'em out , and he looks at the ID's casually and waves us in.  Well, that wasn't too hard. So here we are inside, and I can already feel my head thumping

Faith:

So we go inside, and like I see it is even louder than usual(the name tells it all …ya know, Sonic, like in BOOM?) and we weave through the crowd, trying to find something a bit away from all the speakers. Anne is looking a wee bit headachy already, and we just got here. And we sit, but Anne is already holding her head. And she shouts "FAITH. IS THERE ANYWHERE ELSE YOU KNOW WHERE IT ISN'T QUITE SO…?" and I look at her and say" Yeah, but you might not want to go there"

Buffy:

The volume in here is killing me. I don't know how she can take it. I mean, I like loud music and all, but not where my eardrums are threatening to like crack open. So, I ask her if there is somewhere else we can go…somewhere a little lower on the Richter scale for noise. And she hesitates and says…. Yes, but you might not want to go there

Buffy: Faith, anything has to be better than this

Faith: Ummm….

Buffy: What? What is it?

Faith: Anne, it is a lesbian bar

Buffy: Oh (blush)

Faith:

So she blushes…and then she says:

Buffy: Ummm…is it quieter?

Faith: Much

Buffy: Ok. If I say I'm not interested, will they like not hit on me?

Faith: Yeah Anne. It is not like they are trolls or something. They know the meaning of "No"

Buffy: Hmmm… something some guys have never learned( laughs)

Faith: For sure that

Buffy: Ok let's do it, I can't take this anymore( her hands seem to be glued to her ears)

So, again, Ms. Cookies and Milk kinda puts me back on my butt. I begin to wonder who is corrupting who here.

Faith: You are sure about this

Buffy: Look, Faith. I know you think I am like this little girl you gotta protect or something. But I can take care of myself. If someone does something I'm not liking…they're gonna not be liking too much after I am done with them

Geeze… she looks about as butch as lace curtains. But something in my gut says she is not lying. Oh well.

Anyway, we get out of that place, and Anne stops me .

Buffy: Ummm… Faith?

Faith: Yeah

Buffy: Next time, no clubs with like "Sonic" or " Jet Engine" or " Make Annie's head split open" in the name, ok?

Faith: Ok(pause) Annie

Buffy: Much better. Anne is so formal (she grins)

Why oh why am I beginning to feel like the fly that thought SHE was the spider? Did I mention, this girl makes me nuts?

Buffy:

Sooo, the secret is out. Faithy( better not call that to her face) likes gay clubs. Well…Gee, like she has been half hitting on me all night(and why am I starting to like it more?). So, I guess it isn't any big. But …still… first time in one for moi. This should be something to write home about( provided I could do that…sigh…Buff , lets just let it go for tonight, ok?). Anyway, anything after that last place has gotta be better. And if someone gets funny notions…well… they won't know what hit them…literally. So we are walking through the night, taking in the air. And it is a nice summer evening. So…why does it always happen? Just as we are getting all relaxed…well...you can guess it.

Faith:

Damn. Vamps. Here. Now. This is really not good. I really don't want Annie to know my calling, and I don't want to explain what a slayer is, anyway. So, when these vamps drop down on us, I turn to her and say

Faith: Annie, RUN

And she gets this strange look in her eye, and turns to me and says, quietly

Buffy: Faith, it is ok (smile)

And she has like this confidence thing going, like she has done this before… a lot. But she doesn't have a clue, these are not run of the mill muggers

Faith: Annie, these aren't ordinary muggers. Run, Dammit. I can fend them off

Ok, did I mention she likes to blow me away?

Buffy: Faith, I know. They are vampires

WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?????????????

Buffy: Faith, should we like…take care of them?

WE??????

Buffy(sighs): Sorry Faith, your secret is out. So is mine. Me Slayer, You slayer. Lets do this

And right then, she leaps right in the middle of it. Me, I am still reeling

And I watch her work, and it is like watching a ballet. This girl is like kicking and jumping and punching these vamps left and right. So, I recover, and take on the one closest to me. I give him a leg sweeping kick , but he catches my leg and flips me backwards. I land on my feet, and he is on me like white on rice. I punch him in the solar plexus, and start looking for something to stake him with. And lo and behold, Annie is blowing me away again cause she yells " here, catch" and I find her throwing a stake my way…geeze. What, she carries them with her on her dates? She must go out with a  really nasty crowd. Anyway, fang boy is like coming at me again, so I sidestep him and like kick him in the rear, sending him into a wall. I jump on him and stake him while he is recovering.

I look around , but there is Annie staking the last one of them. Man, she is not only graceful, she is damned good at this.

Wait…. What am I saying? At this? This is not like a club…there aren't that many slayers that I know of.

Actually only me…and one more I heard of.

But she doesn't live  in L.A. … she lives in …Sunnydale, up the coast

Ok, I'm saying it again. This girl is like mystery woman, and she is making me crazy.

Buffy:

I am looking at Faith…and she is eyeing me like I grew another head. Oh, boy. Not good. Gee, lets see. I have pissed off or alienated all my friends. Gee, what is one more, Eh Buff? How am I gonna get out of this?

Faith: Ok, whoever you are...what's goin on?

Buffy: Well… it looks like we were dusting vamps?

Faith: Ok, wiseass. You know what I mean. Who exactly ARE you?

Buffy: I take it you aren't gonna buy I do this as a hobby? Some needlepoint, I stake vampires?

Faith: Dammit, be straight with me. Exactly when did you plan on telling me you were a slayer?

Buffy: Oh, probably same time you were going to tell me

Faith:

Ooooops

Wait a minute .. .she already…

Faith: But you already knew about me. You said " Secret's out . Me Slayer, YOU Slayer. So, you already knew.

Buffy: Yeah, but it isn't like you told me, now is it? Remember those two vamps you dusted in the alley earlier? I happened by, and saw you fight them.

Faith: I didn't see you

Buffy: You almost did… until I saw you start to fight them and realized you weren't an ordinary civilian.

Faith: So, you were following me?

Buffy: No, I heard the girl scream. I was running up to see if I could help, when I heard you challenge them. I was about to jump in the fray, to protect you, because I thought you didn't have a clue. Boy, was I wrong

Faith: Ok, I got it. But still doesn't explain. Why didn't you tell me you were a slayer?

Buffy: Do you go around telling everyone you meet?… didn't think so. Anyway, I was kinda blown away when I saw you. And after I figured I would let you tell me in your own time…IF you decided to tell me, that is. I didn't plan on having drop- in vamps revealing things.

Faith: Look , I still….

But at that point she interrupted me

Buffy:

I was kinda tired, didn't feel like having this discussion in an alley where some more vamps might show up. I wanted an evening out, and I planned on having it

Buffy: Can we do this somewhere less quiet, and with more living people around?

Faith(eyeing me suspiciously…oh, boy, great) Yeah, lets motor

I collect up my stakes, put them back in my purse, and we walk away

In silence

Oh…great. Just great.

TBC.

Ok, the secret is out, on both ends now…more to come