Walking This Way
Chapter 3
"Wow," Faith said. "Wow," she repeated louder. Buffy nodded. "Didn't think I'd miss THAT much, being in jail for 3 years," she shook her head. "Ain't really a dull moment with your bunch, is there?"
"Guess not" Buffy said. She had just told Faith pretty much everything that had happened to her since Faith was in jail: her death, her resurrection, her relationship with Spike, her confusion about it now and his soul. She had told her all about Willow going evil, and about Xander and Anya. And she went over all of the details they knew about the First. And now she looked at Faith, who was still shaking her head processing all the information at once.
"So, this First, this was the same thing that made Angel go all "grrr" and crazy a few years back?" Faith asked.
Buffy looked down, remembering that night on the hilltop when Angel was going to kill himself. She remembered telling him how she needed him, how he was being selfish, and she remembered how tenderly he had looked at her when she told him all those things.
"Buffy shook the thought out of her mind. Now was not the time. "That's the one," she said to Faith.
"Well, what's the big then? All this thing can do is mess with our minds a bit right? So lets just ignore it, and wait for it to get over itself" Faith said.
Buffy found herself smiling. Faith always had a way of making things simple. But she new it wasn't quite that easy. "Well, that's a nice idea, But there's a little more to it then that," Buffy told Faith. "First of all, its kind of hard to tell sometimes if it's the First or not. It has a way knowing things about you." Buffy looked up at Faith again, to see if it was making sense to her or not. She seemed to understand. "And then, lets not overlook this part, the First is building up an army, an army of the first Vampires. Vampires that are just a little bit harder to kill" she told Faith.
Faiths eyes widened a little bit at this. "An army?" she said in disbelief. Buffy nodded. "Well, what about the potentials, I mean, they can fight right? So we kind of have an army also, don't we?" she asked.
"Well, Some of them can fight. But these girls are as young as fourteen, Faith. And they don't have super strength like us. They just have instinct, and what we've taught them," Buffy said.
"So basically, the enemy has everything, and we have nothing?" Faith asked.
Buffy nodded.
"I need a cigarette," Faith said, stretching her arms up behind her neck. "This is all just a little too much to take in at one, ya know?" she questioned.
"Yeah, I know. But that still doesn't mean I'm going to let you smoke inside. You can take it outside. But I would suggest on the front porch. The girls are training in back," she told Faith.
Faith rolled her eyes, "Ok, but if I see Spike smoking inside, I'm going to remind you of this," she said.
"He's only allowed to smoke in the basement, and only during the day, and only because the sun would fry him," Buffy explained. "You're welcome to smoke in the basement with Spike if you want to." She immediately wished she hadn't said that, knowing Faith's way with men.
But the offer didn't seem to appeal to Faith at all, "I think I'll go with outside. And then I guess you can show me these potentials?" she suggested.
Buffy nodded, "Sounds good" she said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connor stomped up the stairs with all the rage of a seventeen-year- old boy who feels neglected. He felt shoved around by too many people, and felt that they all treated him like some stupid kid. He crossed his arms over his chest. He was tired of being controlled by people.
But worst of all was the guilt feeling that he had. For the last few weeks, he had really, fully been beginning to feel bad about all the things he had done to Angel. He had pushed away the only family he might ever of had, and now that family was pushing back.
He felt suddenly that the empty living room was way to small. He felt trapped in his body, as though his skin was suddenly pulled way to tight around him. He squirmed a bit at the unpleasant sensation. He wanted a hunt. After all, he was a predator right? Born from two vampires.
He looked up at a clock on the wall, it was only 2:00pm, and he had hours left until the sun went down. He ran a hand through his hair, and itched at his skin a bit. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to be back at the hotel. He wanted to have a bed to sleep in, not a space on the ground in a damp basement. And more then anything else, he wanted night. Day never felt right to him. The sun always felt too hot, the light from it was always too bright.
He looked out the window grudgingly at it. As soon as it set, he would be out of here, he would prowl the night, as he knew he was meant to do, in hunt of the creatures he hated more then anything else: Vampires.
"Looks like you've got some heavy thoughts going on in there" Faith said, appearing behind him and tapping his head with her fist.
Connor turned his head and looked at her, she was smiling at him a little, just barely though. She had apparently changed into one of Buffy's shirts. It was red and sleeveless, with a low dipped V-neck. The shirt was quite tight on her, since Buffy was a little smaller then her. And it stopped about two inches about her bellybutton. And with her low rise hip hugger jeans, she certainly wasn't leaving much up the imagination. She had also taken off her shoes, and was now walking barefoot. Her makeup had been reapplied, less thick this time, and her hair had been combed, and it now fell beautifully into her face and over her shoulders.
Connor was drawn out of his thoughts of her by a hand colliding - quite painfully -with his face. "OW!" he cried angrily, quickly drawing up a hand to the red burning patch on his cheek. "What was that for?" he asked glaring at her.
"You were checking me out," Faith said to him, looking like she didn't really care that much.
"No I wasn't." Connor felt his entire face begin to burn in embarrassment. He had been completely lost in staring at her, and hadn't even realized how long he had been doing it for.
"Save it kid, I know that look" she said. "Not that I blame you of course, I mean, who wouldn't be staring at me? But still," she said. She threw her head back in laughter as she saw him go even redder in the face. "Chill out, I'm just messing with you" she said, a smile still on her face.
"So, what did Buffy have to say?" Connor asked, quickly trying to change the subject.
"Oh, you know, blah blah end of the world blah blah." The ease that had been in her face and attitude quickly left as the conversation took a turn for the serious. She looked troubled by something.
"Is something wrong?" Connor asked. "Besides the whole end of the world thing of course" he quickly added.
"Not really" Faith said running a hand through her silky hair, pulling it up above her head and letting it fall back onto her shoulders.
Connor looked directly in to her dark eyes, And Faith found it hard to pretend that nothing was wrong. His eyes, though a light shade of blue, held the same intensity as Angel's, so much so, that she felt she was talking to him, and not his son.
"Things are just different, that's all," She said looking down, trying to escape his eyes, but she still felt his piercing gaze. "Mainly Buffy. She seems different. And not just older different, she seems, well..." Faith trailed off for a moment, trying to find words to express her opinions. "She seems colder. Harder. She used to annoy me so much with her 'look at me, the bright ray of sunshine' act. But all that's gone now. And I think I wish the bright little ray of sunshine was back," Faith answered.
Connor opened him mouth to speak, but stopped as he heard footsteps approaching them. Spike appeared around the corner.
Faith noticed his presence also, and quickly shook her head. "Well, all these feelings talks are starting to wear me out" she said stretching her hands high above her head, her shirt riding up as she did so. "I need some serious alone time. And kid, try not to check out my ass as I walk away please," she said tapping him on the shoulder, and turning to leave.
Connor felt the color rising in his cheeks again. The feeling of embarrassment growing when he realized that Spike was looking at him, an eyebrow raised in question.
"You gonna let her prance out of here like that?" Spike asked. Connor didn't answer. "The girl just made a fool of you in front of another man and you're just gonna take it?" he said crossing his arms.
"She didn't make a fool of me," Connor said stubbornly. "Besides, what could I do?" he asked, not looking for an answer.
"What, ya don't know how to handle a lil' ol' girl like that?" Spike asked.
"Weren't too many females of the human species in Qor Toth. Especially not ones like Faith," Connor commented.
"There's not that many girls like Faith anywhere," Spike said. "She's a fiery one all right. You'd be better put to place your emotions elsewhere."
"What emotions?" Connor snapped, glaring at Spike.
Spike just laughed. "What is it about the Slayers?" he mumbled to himself, walking away.
Connor crossed his arms over his chest again, feeling that Spike had been very unfair with his accusations. He didn't even know Connor. He walked over to a couch and flopped down into it, deciding to wait out the sun in a chair, instead of on his feet.
Chapter 3
"Wow," Faith said. "Wow," she repeated louder. Buffy nodded. "Didn't think I'd miss THAT much, being in jail for 3 years," she shook her head. "Ain't really a dull moment with your bunch, is there?"
"Guess not" Buffy said. She had just told Faith pretty much everything that had happened to her since Faith was in jail: her death, her resurrection, her relationship with Spike, her confusion about it now and his soul. She had told her all about Willow going evil, and about Xander and Anya. And she went over all of the details they knew about the First. And now she looked at Faith, who was still shaking her head processing all the information at once.
"So, this First, this was the same thing that made Angel go all "grrr" and crazy a few years back?" Faith asked.
Buffy looked down, remembering that night on the hilltop when Angel was going to kill himself. She remembered telling him how she needed him, how he was being selfish, and she remembered how tenderly he had looked at her when she told him all those things.
"Buffy shook the thought out of her mind. Now was not the time. "That's the one," she said to Faith.
"Well, what's the big then? All this thing can do is mess with our minds a bit right? So lets just ignore it, and wait for it to get over itself" Faith said.
Buffy found herself smiling. Faith always had a way of making things simple. But she new it wasn't quite that easy. "Well, that's a nice idea, But there's a little more to it then that," Buffy told Faith. "First of all, its kind of hard to tell sometimes if it's the First or not. It has a way knowing things about you." Buffy looked up at Faith again, to see if it was making sense to her or not. She seemed to understand. "And then, lets not overlook this part, the First is building up an army, an army of the first Vampires. Vampires that are just a little bit harder to kill" she told Faith.
Faiths eyes widened a little bit at this. "An army?" she said in disbelief. Buffy nodded. "Well, what about the potentials, I mean, they can fight right? So we kind of have an army also, don't we?" she asked.
"Well, Some of them can fight. But these girls are as young as fourteen, Faith. And they don't have super strength like us. They just have instinct, and what we've taught them," Buffy said.
"So basically, the enemy has everything, and we have nothing?" Faith asked.
Buffy nodded.
"I need a cigarette," Faith said, stretching her arms up behind her neck. "This is all just a little too much to take in at one, ya know?" she questioned.
"Yeah, I know. But that still doesn't mean I'm going to let you smoke inside. You can take it outside. But I would suggest on the front porch. The girls are training in back," she told Faith.
Faith rolled her eyes, "Ok, but if I see Spike smoking inside, I'm going to remind you of this," she said.
"He's only allowed to smoke in the basement, and only during the day, and only because the sun would fry him," Buffy explained. "You're welcome to smoke in the basement with Spike if you want to." She immediately wished she hadn't said that, knowing Faith's way with men.
But the offer didn't seem to appeal to Faith at all, "I think I'll go with outside. And then I guess you can show me these potentials?" she suggested.
Buffy nodded, "Sounds good" she said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connor stomped up the stairs with all the rage of a seventeen-year- old boy who feels neglected. He felt shoved around by too many people, and felt that they all treated him like some stupid kid. He crossed his arms over his chest. He was tired of being controlled by people.
But worst of all was the guilt feeling that he had. For the last few weeks, he had really, fully been beginning to feel bad about all the things he had done to Angel. He had pushed away the only family he might ever of had, and now that family was pushing back.
He felt suddenly that the empty living room was way to small. He felt trapped in his body, as though his skin was suddenly pulled way to tight around him. He squirmed a bit at the unpleasant sensation. He wanted a hunt. After all, he was a predator right? Born from two vampires.
He looked up at a clock on the wall, it was only 2:00pm, and he had hours left until the sun went down. He ran a hand through his hair, and itched at his skin a bit. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to be back at the hotel. He wanted to have a bed to sleep in, not a space on the ground in a damp basement. And more then anything else, he wanted night. Day never felt right to him. The sun always felt too hot, the light from it was always too bright.
He looked out the window grudgingly at it. As soon as it set, he would be out of here, he would prowl the night, as he knew he was meant to do, in hunt of the creatures he hated more then anything else: Vampires.
"Looks like you've got some heavy thoughts going on in there" Faith said, appearing behind him and tapping his head with her fist.
Connor turned his head and looked at her, she was smiling at him a little, just barely though. She had apparently changed into one of Buffy's shirts. It was red and sleeveless, with a low dipped V-neck. The shirt was quite tight on her, since Buffy was a little smaller then her. And it stopped about two inches about her bellybutton. And with her low rise hip hugger jeans, she certainly wasn't leaving much up the imagination. She had also taken off her shoes, and was now walking barefoot. Her makeup had been reapplied, less thick this time, and her hair had been combed, and it now fell beautifully into her face and over her shoulders.
Connor was drawn out of his thoughts of her by a hand colliding - quite painfully -with his face. "OW!" he cried angrily, quickly drawing up a hand to the red burning patch on his cheek. "What was that for?" he asked glaring at her.
"You were checking me out," Faith said to him, looking like she didn't really care that much.
"No I wasn't." Connor felt his entire face begin to burn in embarrassment. He had been completely lost in staring at her, and hadn't even realized how long he had been doing it for.
"Save it kid, I know that look" she said. "Not that I blame you of course, I mean, who wouldn't be staring at me? But still," she said. She threw her head back in laughter as she saw him go even redder in the face. "Chill out, I'm just messing with you" she said, a smile still on her face.
"So, what did Buffy have to say?" Connor asked, quickly trying to change the subject.
"Oh, you know, blah blah end of the world blah blah." The ease that had been in her face and attitude quickly left as the conversation took a turn for the serious. She looked troubled by something.
"Is something wrong?" Connor asked. "Besides the whole end of the world thing of course" he quickly added.
"Not really" Faith said running a hand through her silky hair, pulling it up above her head and letting it fall back onto her shoulders.
Connor looked directly in to her dark eyes, And Faith found it hard to pretend that nothing was wrong. His eyes, though a light shade of blue, held the same intensity as Angel's, so much so, that she felt she was talking to him, and not his son.
"Things are just different, that's all," She said looking down, trying to escape his eyes, but she still felt his piercing gaze. "Mainly Buffy. She seems different. And not just older different, she seems, well..." Faith trailed off for a moment, trying to find words to express her opinions. "She seems colder. Harder. She used to annoy me so much with her 'look at me, the bright ray of sunshine' act. But all that's gone now. And I think I wish the bright little ray of sunshine was back," Faith answered.
Connor opened him mouth to speak, but stopped as he heard footsteps approaching them. Spike appeared around the corner.
Faith noticed his presence also, and quickly shook her head. "Well, all these feelings talks are starting to wear me out" she said stretching her hands high above her head, her shirt riding up as she did so. "I need some serious alone time. And kid, try not to check out my ass as I walk away please," she said tapping him on the shoulder, and turning to leave.
Connor felt the color rising in his cheeks again. The feeling of embarrassment growing when he realized that Spike was looking at him, an eyebrow raised in question.
"You gonna let her prance out of here like that?" Spike asked. Connor didn't answer. "The girl just made a fool of you in front of another man and you're just gonna take it?" he said crossing his arms.
"She didn't make a fool of me," Connor said stubbornly. "Besides, what could I do?" he asked, not looking for an answer.
"What, ya don't know how to handle a lil' ol' girl like that?" Spike asked.
"Weren't too many females of the human species in Qor Toth. Especially not ones like Faith," Connor commented.
"There's not that many girls like Faith anywhere," Spike said. "She's a fiery one all right. You'd be better put to place your emotions elsewhere."
"What emotions?" Connor snapped, glaring at Spike.
Spike just laughed. "What is it about the Slayers?" he mumbled to himself, walking away.
Connor crossed his arms over his chest again, feeling that Spike had been very unfair with his accusations. He didn't even know Connor. He walked over to a couch and flopped down into it, deciding to wait out the sun in a chair, instead of on his feet.