Adjustment - Part IV
"Table for nine," Giles answered the waiter. He nodded and they followed him to a table towards the back of the diner. It was nothing special but they looked like they'd have decent food, fairly fast service, and they'd be able to accommodate their fairly large group. Everyone filed around the table finding their seats. The waiter took their order for drinks and said he'd be back in a few moments.
"In diner language, he'll be back in twenty minutes," Xander stated proudly.
"Hey, I didn't know you spoke two languages," Faith praised condescendingly.
"Yeah, that's kinda like when I found out you-"
"So what is everyone thinking of getting?" Kennedy asked quickly cutting Xander off being able to anticipate what his next words might be. Everyone was slightly taken aback by Xander's attitude. He'd been in a rank mood since they woke him up as they approached their stop. He had been hissing and every single thing Faith had done, including smoking.
"I don't know," Willow answered in a slightly whining tone, "what are you getting, baby?"
"I was thinking about the steak sandwich…"
"That sounds good," Giles agreed noting it on the menu.
"So, what are you getting?" Xander asked directing his question at Wood.
"I'm not really decided…"
"What were you thinking about?"
"Well the chicken cutlet looks pretty good."
"Oh, my mistake," Xander added sarcastically. He was quickly nudged in the ribs by Buffy causing him to scowl in protest. "So, I never really got the whole story on you - how did you get the job at Sunnydale?"
"I heard about the opening and I had been planning to come to Sunnydale as soon as I could since I had heard of the Slayer there."
"So you came for Buffy?"
"I-" Wood began to answer but Buffy cut him off.
"Giles and I looked up some things on the area we're moving to Xander, and there's a construction company set up not that far away… it should be easy for you to find some work when we get there."
"Yeah," he nodded. "I haven't really decided if I want to go back to work right away though."
"Yeah, about that," Dawn added, "Buffy, I'm not so sure I'm ready to go back to school already… I think it would be really beneficial for me to take some time off," she urged with a convincing smile plastered across her face hoping her speech would work.
"Take it from me, Dawn," Faith spoke up seeing that Buffy was struggling with exactly the right words to say 'hell no!' to her, "once you take a little while off of school, you don't want to go back."
"You mean I don't ever have to go back?"
"No!" Buffy spat.
"That's not what I meant," Faith clarified, "don't follow my example, follow Buffy's… well, most of it," Faith added shooting Buffy a playful grin.
"Yeah, let's definitely clarify - don't follow Faith's example," Xander stated in a mean-spirited tone, "in anything."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Faith asked defensively.
"It's supposed to mean that she shouldn't repeat *anything* you've ever done or even thought about doing because they're all bad things and Dawn actually *has* a chance at a future."
"Settle down," Giles ordered.
"You almost dragged Buffy down with you before and I don't need to watch you do the same with Dawn or Kennedy."
"Yeah, because my examples been a lot worse for them than the one you're setting right now…" Faith answered.
"Excuse me," the waiter said as he approached with the drinks. He set them down on the table and stated, "if you could, could you two please continue this outside… the manager is here and…"
"I need a cigarette," Faith said getting up out of her seat and heading for the door.
"Ugh," Xander groaned in response rolling his eyes. She saw his gesture and quickly stated,
"Xander, if you have something to say to me then just say it."
"Fine! I will!" Xander yelled after her.
"Then sir, could you please go outside to do so?" the waiter asked as politely as he could while in reality he was kicking them out for being too loud. Xander got up from the table and followed Faith quickly outside.
"I'm terribly sorry," Giles said apologizing to the waiter. They talked for a few moments and he eventually walked away leaving them all alone.
"God, what's gotten into him?" Willow asked Buffy.
"He's been grumpy all day…" she answered.
---
"I have plenty to say to you, Faith," he said storming out of the diner after her. She already had her cigarette out and was in the process of lighting it.
"Go right ahead, I'll pretend to listen," she said not even lifting her head to look at him.
"You're a fucking bitch, you know that, Faith," he spat out. She raised an eyebrow at him and nodded.
"Gee, I would've gotten that one right."
"God, why the hell did Anya even like you!?" he suddenly asked angrily not completely realizing what exactly he was saying till he saw the look come over Faith's face.
"So that's what this is all about."
"Don't you dare bring her into this!" he warned.
"I'm not the one who brought her into anything, you are…" she explained snappily.
"God, go away," he finally yelled childishly not having anything else to say. She raised her cigarette up and answered,
"You go away… I'm smoking… and besides, I was here first," she said rationalizing why she should get to stay matching his childishness with her own.
"I would go back inside with people I actually like… well, most of them, but *you* got me kicked out of the diner," he stated matter of factly.
"Alright, you definitely sound like a snotty eight year old," she stated with a laugh.
"Could you just focus for ten seconds?"
"I was going to time my attention span once actually but once I got the stopwatch all set up and everything, I got bored so I did something else…" Faith said a smile threatening her lips as she said it. Xander actually had to laugh in response to that. The two stood there smiling at each other during a narrow time period of truce when Faith saw the flashing siren lights reflecting in the windows to the diner. She spun around hearing the sirens sound and the lights flash as the car slid into a stop only ten feet from where they were standing. Xander quickly looked over to Faith to see what she was going to do but she just froze.
"Hands up where I can see them!" the officer yelled jumping out of the drivers side with his gun already in his hand and aimed directly at both of them. His partner stood uniformly on the passenger side, both shielded by the car doors. Faith tossed her cigarette to the ground quickly. Xander kept glancing over at Faith if not only to see what exactly to do, but to see how she was going to handle everything - this was her area and definitely not his. "Good," the officer said stepping around the door and slowly towards them. Faith stood there not even breathing with her hands held above her head, meeting at the wrists right above her head. Her expression was as blank as he had ever seen it as she gave no indication to her thoughts through her features.
"You, step away from her," the partner called over to Xander also moving away from the car and closer to them. Xander did so keeping his eyes moving quickly between the cops and Faith.
---
"Those two are being insufferable tonight," Willow noted after the silence of the table had cleared since Faith and Xander's hasty exit.
"Yeah, speaking of which, they've been out there a while…" Buffy noted, "I'll go get them, make sure no one is severely injured… their food is getting cold."
"I'll come with you," Kennedy said getting up without even waiting for Buffy's response.
"Okay," Buffy answered.
"Do you want me to come too?" Willow offered.
"No need… if I'm not back in an hour call the squat team," she joked. Buffy and Kennedy walked out of the diner and rounded the corner of the parking lot but both of them quickly halted in their tracks as they saw the two police officers holding guns up to Faith and Xander with the flashing lights of the cop car seeming to elevate the tension of the situation. "Oh my god," Buffy whispered. Kennedy just stood there frozen as she watched the officer finally approach Faith, still holding his gun firmly.
"Don't move," he ordered quickly glancing her over to make sure there were no obvious weapons within her close grasp. "Okay," he answered grabbing her arm roughly, "up against the car," he said pushing her firmly towards the side of the cop car. Xander, Buffy and Kennedy all watched, already amazed that Faith hadn't said a damn thing to the officer. "Alright," he said pushing her back shoving her firmly against the side of the vehicle. "Spread 'em," he said typically patting her thigh. She did so and Xander could already feel himself getting angry.
The officer re-sheathed his gun and pushed her again into the car. Faith gritted her teeth but didn't make a move. She had her head turned towards Xander and the other cop but he noticed she wasn't looking at him. She just seemed to zone herself out fixating herself on looking in no obvious direction - but it seemed like she was even just looking more inside than at anything on the outside. Even though she tried to keep her face free of expression, the fear and anger welling up in her eyes made Xander want to just run over there and punch the cop in the face.
"How much fucking closer to the car do you want her!?" Xander finally yelled. The cop gave him a smug glance and for an ego boost he shoved her against the car again even harder than he had any of the other times.
"Alright, honey, spread 'em like I know a girl like you can," he said obnoxiously. She separated her feet slightly clenching her teeth tightly. He patted her thigh again, "like you want it bad, baby, come on," he said in a slightly pissed off tone. Once again she separated her feet farther away only to be once again shoved up against the car but this time she could feel he did it more with his hips because she could feel him up against her even afterwards.
"What the hell is that guy doing?" Kennedy asked Buffy angrily.
"Oh god," Buffy answered worry welling up within her in a way she couldn't remember ever feeling before.
"Just like that," the officer, who everyone was quickly noticing had quite a bit of ulterior motives in this search, said as he leaned against her tense body pushed up against the car. He ran his hands from her waist up her arms pushing them over her head on the car. He patted them down then moved his hands over her breasts as slowly as he could squeezing and patting. "Stay the fuck still!" he yelled as she tensed against his touch.
"Hey!" Xander screamed angrily as loud as he could.
"Do your girl a favor, buddy, just have fun watching," the partner said smiling back at his friend who was obviously having fun searching the girl. Xander threatened to ignore him and go after the other guy anyway but the partner flashed his gun quickly at his face and he backed off again.
Since she had moved, the officer happily began his search again starting again at her arms and moving slowly down again. She tensed up again unable to help it since his touch was so intrusive and ugly to her.
"We could stay out here all night, baby," he said pushing her up against the car again with his body while his hands remained under her arms and across her breasts.
"You'd like that wouldn't you," she muttered through clenched teeth. He raised one of his hands and hit her in the back of the neck with his forearm as he shoved her again.
"What was that, kitten?" he asked as she caught her breath from the blow while still restraining herself.
"This is so not good," Buffy said nervously to Kennedy. "Go get Giles," she said finally deciding things were definitely about to get really bad. Kennedy nodded and quickly ran back into the diner for Giles.
"Get your fucking hands off of her!" Xander screamed again watching his hands lingering around her chest.
"Settle down, son," the partner said but now he was clearly becoming a little tired of his partner's game. Giles jogged out of the diner with Kennedy and the others were following behind at a walk so they were a little farther behind. Giles met Buffy and immediately paused and processed the situation quickly. It was one skill that he had always been extensively trained in with the Watcher training, but he was particularly good at it.
"This is not good," Buffy muttered to him. He could see the tears welling up in her eyes and he answered her with as comforting of a look as he could manage.
"It could be worse."
"How?" Buffy asked spinning around to look at him quickly.
"They could know who she is…" Giles reminded.
"That fucking creep better get his hands off of her," Robin said walking past Giles and Buffy. Buffy quickly jumped forward and grabbed him and pulled him back.
"Don't," Buffy said not sure of why, she just had a feeling it would be better.
"Does he always have this much trouble just watching?" the officer asked suggestively leaning his mouth close to Faith's ear as though he was asking her a secret. He lowered his hands running them around her waist, squeezing it happily. From his close proximity, leaning against her, Faith could feel that he was having lots of fun and it made her feel like she was about to vomit. He ran his hands down to her hips then slid them forward and down till he ran them between her legs. He squeezed her upper-inner thigh and Xander could practically hear Faith holding herself back from snapping this guys neck.
"That's enough!!!" Xander screamed again.
"I don't want to have to say it again," the partner said holding his gun up again.
"Giles, do something," Buffy said thin tears actually running down her face.
"She's handling it…" he explained.
"She shouldn't have to!" Buffy quickly defended.
"You're right, but it would be best, if possible, to just sit it out and wait for them to leave."
"Giles, say something!" she demanded. "Faith's been eying that guys gun for the past five minutes, Giles, you better do something quick before she's decided she's had enough… she's real close to it," Buffy stated firmly.
"Alright," Giles said seeing that Buffy's observation was a reality. He waited one more moment but as he saw the cops hands squeezing her inner thigh he stepped forward.
"Freeze!" the partner said holding up his gun at Giles.
"Officer, what seems to be the problem?" Xander quickly took his eyes off of Faith to see where Giles had come from and he saw him approaching confidently as well as everyone standing in a little group just around the corner. The officer lowered his gun from Giles and glanced back at Xander then back at Giles. Xander returned his gaze to Faith and he saw the officer squeeze her roughly.
"What the fuck!" he screamed finally charging over towards her. The tears he could see finally start to form in her eyes as she tried to zone herself farther and farther away from reality. He could see her regulating her breath to stay calm and forcing her twitching muscles not to be allowed to spin around and beat this guy into a bloody pulp. Xander had also seen her eying the guys gun but he repeated steadily in his head, 'don't do it, Faith,' which thankfully, one way or another she had heard and restrained herself from what she really wanted to do. The partner jumped in front of him and the two shoved each other.
"Son, settle down," the partner said in a more understanding tone than before. Obviously he had seen what his friend had done and he wasn't comfortable with the situation any more so he was kind of leaning more towards siding with these teenagers.
"Get him the fuck away from her!" Xander yelled threatening to go and do it himself.
"Let's go," the partner finally said to his friend. His friend finally lifted himself off of her. She knowledgably still didn't move off of the car knowing it would just be another excuse for him to shove her again and she really didn't think she could take him doing that again without her defending herself.
"Excuse me," Giles said again this time more strongly. "What is the problem?"
"There's no problem," the first officer said finally turning away from Faith towards Giles.
"Yeah there is!" Xander yelled.
"What was the reason for that, hmm, extensive search, officer?" Giles pushed.
"Let's go," the first officer said to his partner ready to leave ignoring Giles question.
"Excuse me," he said again stepping between the car door and the officer.
"Umm…" he said making it obvious that he was making up a reason, "we got tipped off that there would be a drug exchange in this parking lot tonight… two drug dealers, a girl and a guy, the girl was supposed to have all of the stuff on her… good one, huh?"
"I'm very impressed," Giles answered sardonically. The officer stepped around Giles moving back towards Faith.
"Put your legs together, honey, you look like a slut…" he said pulling her off of the side of the car. She looked at him, and god, if looks could kill, that man would be already six feet underground. She didn't say a word as he smiled suggestively at her licking his bottom lip for good measure before getting into the car and driving away.
"Faith, are you alright?" Giles asked cautiously. She had that look, that look that made it seem like she was looking straight through you and onto whatever was behind you. That look that made you feel hollow inside when you saw it. A look that should show fear and anxiety but was always interpreted as strength and indifference. She didn't even answer him she just glanced over at Buffy and the rest of the gang who were already slowly approaching. Faith walked quickly towards the wall of the diner (they were behind the diner in the parking lot) to where the garbage was put out and where any wooden shipment boxes were stacked. She appeared pretty calm, all things considered, but things definitely changed once she reached the brick wall.
All of a sudden she was punching and kicking the brick wall screaming as she did so. She picked up various wooden boxes sending them splintering into thousands of pieces as they collided at high speeds with the brick wall. Xander ran over to her, being the only one since everyone else was either shocked at her sudden shift, or just not wanting to be anywhere near her. He reached her and just grabbed her arms from behind her and held onto them with all of his strength. She continued to kick violently out at the wall lifting herself off of the ground being anchored by Xander holding her arms.
"Stop it… stop… Faith, please… stop it!" he begged trying to just hold onto her during her fit. "Stop!" he said again pulling her back as hard as he could. She finally caught herself but with that realization came all of the others. A rush of emotion surged through her body and that feeling of wanting to vomit rose within her again. "It's okay… Faith, it's okay," Xander comforted even though his voice was still angry and upset. He turned her around so that she was facing him, which she did very willingly. She grabbed his jacket desperately pulling herself into him burying her face in his chest with only a momentary hesitation. He wrapped his arms around her holding her tightly noticing the blood streaming from both of her hands from their previous activity of punching brick. "It's okay… you did so good," he soothed. She was shaking with anger in his arms and the feeling made him want to just completely break down, but he knew he had to be strong so he just held her while supplying small words of comfort.
She seemed to relax herself finally and she raised her face from his chest to looking up at him. From the redness of her eyes and the small wet droplets on his shirt he could tell she was crying, but now she had been able to refrain herself now appearing more pissed off and angry than upset, which is what she was going for he was sure. She looked into his eyes and he could see her jaw still twitching from anger.
"Sorry," she finally said pulling out of his hold. She wanted to just jump back into his arms as she felt the cold air bite at her as she left his warmth. "I lost my shit for a minute there," she admitted as though no one realized.
"You didn't lose your shit on the cop, that's what matters," he answered honestly. The rest of the gang now walked over.
"You were about to," Buffy said walking over trying to lighten the situation if at all possible. She remembered the first time she saw Faith confronted by an officer, and the way she acted was completely different. With the first, Buffy remembered being frozen with fear and Faith had just laughed it off and flirted with the cop as he held a gun up to both of them. Now she had stood there and put up with garbage she probably wouldn't have taken from anyone a few years ago.
"Nah, I learned that lesson already," Faith answered pulling a cigarette out of the pack from her pocket. "I've killed fucking pricks for less than that," she added angrily as she walked away from the group making it quite clear that she didn't desire to be followed.
"Faith, I have some things in the car for your hands," Giles called to her hoping it would keep her from walking away. She didn't even acknowledge he said anything and continued to just walk out of the parking lot. Robin watched her along with the rest of them as she left but then as she rounded the corner out of sight he glanced over at the brick wall. It was cracked in some of the spots she had hit it but the rough surface clung to the skin on her knuckles proving itself by small splotches of blood focused on the center of her unseen target.
"Am I the only person that wouldn't have minded if that had been that assholes face?" he said looking back at everyone else who had formed a small circle around the area.
"I would've fucking helped her kick his ass!" Kennedy answered fuming with anger.
"Faith would've had no problem killing that guy all by herself," Andrew shot at her defensively.
"Buffy, you always talked about how Faith couldn't control her temper when you talked about her… I'd say that was pretty good control, not that I understand why the hell she didn't just kill that fuck."
"She couldn't afford to have them press her for ID," Willow defended.
"Why the hell not!?" he answered angrily. His anxiety and aggravation that he had been able to control about the situation finally overflowed, "she could've fucking gotten away from them without breaking a sweat."
"She could've…" Buffy answered, "but she wasn't going to leave Xander there, and… there are certain things that… make her kinda zone out. Faith can handle baggage better than anyone when she's fighting, but there are certain things that she can't - and she zones when she hits those." Everyone knew by the tone in Buffy's voice, that she had seen her like that and it forced everyone to realize how close the two of them once had been. "I'm going to go get her," Buffy finally said after looking down the road she had left for a few minutes. "Can you guys just get everything ready to leave… I think we should try and just go once I get her back." Giles nodded at her request and everyone sauntered in different direction, each silently designating themselves a certain job to get ready to leave.
----
Buffy walked down the street she had watched Faith leave down. She moved quickly along the concrete sidewalk with her heels clicking strongly against it echoing her steps as she walked. She walked down the street till she saw a small alley cut off on the right. She walked down it sensing that that was exactly where she'd find Faith. The alley was lit by the reflection of a street lamp off of a car's windshield. Faith sat on a wooden box towards the back of the alley smoking a cigarette leaning her arms on her thighs slouching forward. She looked up as she heard the clicks of Buffy's shoes approaching down the alley.
"You okay?"
"You know me," she answered inhaling her cigarette again.
"Yeah I do, that's why I'm asking," Buffy answered her quickly.
"I'm five by five, B."
"I saw you eyeing his gun, Faith." She smirked sarcastically and answered,
"Yeah, well you know I've got a fetish…"
"I just don't get how you didn't snap - Faith, I've seen you freak on people for a lot less than that."
"Yeah, I just didn't want to set a bad example… you know, for Dawn and Kennedy," she answered sarcastically again.
"You're not having a very good couple of days," Buffy said trying to get a smile out of her.
"B, I'm not having a good fucking decade," she answered exhaling a stream of grey smoke.
"Well, it can only get better," Buffy noted.
"That's what I used to tell myself… things just always find a way to be worse."
"It'll get better," she promised, "it'll get easier too," she added comfortingly showing that she was at least trying to understand what Faith was going through. She hadn't really thought about how Faith had felt getting out of prison since she had just jumped into fighting again as soon as she had gotten out. As Faith had admitted to her once, 'fighting and fucking are definitely good distractions'.
Faith only gave a slight nod in response to Buffy's promises.
"Faith, talk to me," Buffy finally said almost pleadingly.
"Yeah, since I'm so good at that."
"You know, you used to put on a mask around all of us, but at least you would have a face to show, even if it wasn't the real one, you showed something! God, Faith… you're blank…"
"I always tried to tell you I was a boring person," she answered still with that defensive sarcasm dripping off all of her words.
"You scare me when you're like this," Buffy admitted.
"If I'm really freakin' you out you can always just call that cop back and have him put me back… can't scare you then." She said finally letting some of her anger creep out even if it was only in her tone.
"Faith-" Buffy said her voice cracking as she said it, "stop it."
"Whatever," Faith answered exhaling the last bit of her cigarette as she threw it down on the ground.
"You're not going back," Buffy comforted.
"You're right, I'm not fucking going back," Faith answered strongly but still calmly with a hint of her old attitude streaked through her words.
"Hey," Xander said as he appeared walking into the alley.
"God, does everything have to be a fucking family hug with you losers," Faith spat hopping off the box she had been sitting on.
"Sorry," he answered stepping to the side.
"Let's just get gone," Faith said walking past both of them back towards the cars.
---
"We all ready?" Robin asked as Buffy, Faith, and Xander reached the vehicles. Faith had gotten there first, about twenty paces in front of the other two and had just gotten into the passenger seat of the Suburban.
"Yeah," Xander answered as he headed for the drivers seat of the truck.
"We can probably get there in another four or five hours," Giles stated heading for the car. Willow, Kennedy, Dawn, and Andrew followed him and everyone else got into the truck. Xander looked over at Faith as he waited for the big diesel engine to start up. She sat leaning up against the door with her feet planted flatly on the middle seat of the bench with her knees bent up close to her chest. As they drove down the highway Buffy watched Faith from the backseat behind Xander. She watched her finally close her eyes after staring at the upcoming road ahead of them. She saw her fighting off sleep but eventually she gave up and drifted off slightly. She would wakeup after about twenty minutes or so and open her eyes quickly glancing around and then after about two or three minutes she would close them again.
Finally after being on the road for what seemed like forever Giles pulled onto a street that led them to many large intersections and the area began to look more and more like an active city. Xander looked over at Faith and saw that she was asleep again. He then followed Giles onto a smaller street with a dead end sign. It seemed kind of out of place because after going on the busy main street this street had hardly anything built on it with a few closed down stores scattered towards the beginning of it. They reached the end of the street and drove into the hidden driveway of the house at the end of the street. It was a sharp left after you entered the driveway sending you behind a wall and then it rounded into a large, underground garage. They stopped at a grey concrete wall with a door off to the side of it and parked. Everyone piled out of the vehicles and Xander patted Faith's calf as he said softly,
"We're here." She opened her eyes and gave a slight nod.
"Table for nine," Giles answered the waiter. He nodded and they followed him to a table towards the back of the diner. It was nothing special but they looked like they'd have decent food, fairly fast service, and they'd be able to accommodate their fairly large group. Everyone filed around the table finding their seats. The waiter took their order for drinks and said he'd be back in a few moments.
"In diner language, he'll be back in twenty minutes," Xander stated proudly.
"Hey, I didn't know you spoke two languages," Faith praised condescendingly.
"Yeah, that's kinda like when I found out you-"
"So what is everyone thinking of getting?" Kennedy asked quickly cutting Xander off being able to anticipate what his next words might be. Everyone was slightly taken aback by Xander's attitude. He'd been in a rank mood since they woke him up as they approached their stop. He had been hissing and every single thing Faith had done, including smoking.
"I don't know," Willow answered in a slightly whining tone, "what are you getting, baby?"
"I was thinking about the steak sandwich…"
"That sounds good," Giles agreed noting it on the menu.
"So, what are you getting?" Xander asked directing his question at Wood.
"I'm not really decided…"
"What were you thinking about?"
"Well the chicken cutlet looks pretty good."
"Oh, my mistake," Xander added sarcastically. He was quickly nudged in the ribs by Buffy causing him to scowl in protest. "So, I never really got the whole story on you - how did you get the job at Sunnydale?"
"I heard about the opening and I had been planning to come to Sunnydale as soon as I could since I had heard of the Slayer there."
"So you came for Buffy?"
"I-" Wood began to answer but Buffy cut him off.
"Giles and I looked up some things on the area we're moving to Xander, and there's a construction company set up not that far away… it should be easy for you to find some work when we get there."
"Yeah," he nodded. "I haven't really decided if I want to go back to work right away though."
"Yeah, about that," Dawn added, "Buffy, I'm not so sure I'm ready to go back to school already… I think it would be really beneficial for me to take some time off," she urged with a convincing smile plastered across her face hoping her speech would work.
"Take it from me, Dawn," Faith spoke up seeing that Buffy was struggling with exactly the right words to say 'hell no!' to her, "once you take a little while off of school, you don't want to go back."
"You mean I don't ever have to go back?"
"No!" Buffy spat.
"That's not what I meant," Faith clarified, "don't follow my example, follow Buffy's… well, most of it," Faith added shooting Buffy a playful grin.
"Yeah, let's definitely clarify - don't follow Faith's example," Xander stated in a mean-spirited tone, "in anything."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Faith asked defensively.
"It's supposed to mean that she shouldn't repeat *anything* you've ever done or even thought about doing because they're all bad things and Dawn actually *has* a chance at a future."
"Settle down," Giles ordered.
"You almost dragged Buffy down with you before and I don't need to watch you do the same with Dawn or Kennedy."
"Yeah, because my examples been a lot worse for them than the one you're setting right now…" Faith answered.
"Excuse me," the waiter said as he approached with the drinks. He set them down on the table and stated, "if you could, could you two please continue this outside… the manager is here and…"
"I need a cigarette," Faith said getting up out of her seat and heading for the door.
"Ugh," Xander groaned in response rolling his eyes. She saw his gesture and quickly stated,
"Xander, if you have something to say to me then just say it."
"Fine! I will!" Xander yelled after her.
"Then sir, could you please go outside to do so?" the waiter asked as politely as he could while in reality he was kicking them out for being too loud. Xander got up from the table and followed Faith quickly outside.
"I'm terribly sorry," Giles said apologizing to the waiter. They talked for a few moments and he eventually walked away leaving them all alone.
"God, what's gotten into him?" Willow asked Buffy.
"He's been grumpy all day…" she answered.
---
"I have plenty to say to you, Faith," he said storming out of the diner after her. She already had her cigarette out and was in the process of lighting it.
"Go right ahead, I'll pretend to listen," she said not even lifting her head to look at him.
"You're a fucking bitch, you know that, Faith," he spat out. She raised an eyebrow at him and nodded.
"Gee, I would've gotten that one right."
"God, why the hell did Anya even like you!?" he suddenly asked angrily not completely realizing what exactly he was saying till he saw the look come over Faith's face.
"So that's what this is all about."
"Don't you dare bring her into this!" he warned.
"I'm not the one who brought her into anything, you are…" she explained snappily.
"God, go away," he finally yelled childishly not having anything else to say. She raised her cigarette up and answered,
"You go away… I'm smoking… and besides, I was here first," she said rationalizing why she should get to stay matching his childishness with her own.
"I would go back inside with people I actually like… well, most of them, but *you* got me kicked out of the diner," he stated matter of factly.
"Alright, you definitely sound like a snotty eight year old," she stated with a laugh.
"Could you just focus for ten seconds?"
"I was going to time my attention span once actually but once I got the stopwatch all set up and everything, I got bored so I did something else…" Faith said a smile threatening her lips as she said it. Xander actually had to laugh in response to that. The two stood there smiling at each other during a narrow time period of truce when Faith saw the flashing siren lights reflecting in the windows to the diner. She spun around hearing the sirens sound and the lights flash as the car slid into a stop only ten feet from where they were standing. Xander quickly looked over to Faith to see what she was going to do but she just froze.
"Hands up where I can see them!" the officer yelled jumping out of the drivers side with his gun already in his hand and aimed directly at both of them. His partner stood uniformly on the passenger side, both shielded by the car doors. Faith tossed her cigarette to the ground quickly. Xander kept glancing over at Faith if not only to see what exactly to do, but to see how she was going to handle everything - this was her area and definitely not his. "Good," the officer said stepping around the door and slowly towards them. Faith stood there not even breathing with her hands held above her head, meeting at the wrists right above her head. Her expression was as blank as he had ever seen it as she gave no indication to her thoughts through her features.
"You, step away from her," the partner called over to Xander also moving away from the car and closer to them. Xander did so keeping his eyes moving quickly between the cops and Faith.
---
"Those two are being insufferable tonight," Willow noted after the silence of the table had cleared since Faith and Xander's hasty exit.
"Yeah, speaking of which, they've been out there a while…" Buffy noted, "I'll go get them, make sure no one is severely injured… their food is getting cold."
"I'll come with you," Kennedy said getting up without even waiting for Buffy's response.
"Okay," Buffy answered.
"Do you want me to come too?" Willow offered.
"No need… if I'm not back in an hour call the squat team," she joked. Buffy and Kennedy walked out of the diner and rounded the corner of the parking lot but both of them quickly halted in their tracks as they saw the two police officers holding guns up to Faith and Xander with the flashing lights of the cop car seeming to elevate the tension of the situation. "Oh my god," Buffy whispered. Kennedy just stood there frozen as she watched the officer finally approach Faith, still holding his gun firmly.
"Don't move," he ordered quickly glancing her over to make sure there were no obvious weapons within her close grasp. "Okay," he answered grabbing her arm roughly, "up against the car," he said pushing her firmly towards the side of the cop car. Xander, Buffy and Kennedy all watched, already amazed that Faith hadn't said a damn thing to the officer. "Alright," he said pushing her back shoving her firmly against the side of the vehicle. "Spread 'em," he said typically patting her thigh. She did so and Xander could already feel himself getting angry.
The officer re-sheathed his gun and pushed her again into the car. Faith gritted her teeth but didn't make a move. She had her head turned towards Xander and the other cop but he noticed she wasn't looking at him. She just seemed to zone herself out fixating herself on looking in no obvious direction - but it seemed like she was even just looking more inside than at anything on the outside. Even though she tried to keep her face free of expression, the fear and anger welling up in her eyes made Xander want to just run over there and punch the cop in the face.
"How much fucking closer to the car do you want her!?" Xander finally yelled. The cop gave him a smug glance and for an ego boost he shoved her against the car again even harder than he had any of the other times.
"Alright, honey, spread 'em like I know a girl like you can," he said obnoxiously. She separated her feet slightly clenching her teeth tightly. He patted her thigh again, "like you want it bad, baby, come on," he said in a slightly pissed off tone. Once again she separated her feet farther away only to be once again shoved up against the car but this time she could feel he did it more with his hips because she could feel him up against her even afterwards.
"What the hell is that guy doing?" Kennedy asked Buffy angrily.
"Oh god," Buffy answered worry welling up within her in a way she couldn't remember ever feeling before.
"Just like that," the officer, who everyone was quickly noticing had quite a bit of ulterior motives in this search, said as he leaned against her tense body pushed up against the car. He ran his hands from her waist up her arms pushing them over her head on the car. He patted them down then moved his hands over her breasts as slowly as he could squeezing and patting. "Stay the fuck still!" he yelled as she tensed against his touch.
"Hey!" Xander screamed angrily as loud as he could.
"Do your girl a favor, buddy, just have fun watching," the partner said smiling back at his friend who was obviously having fun searching the girl. Xander threatened to ignore him and go after the other guy anyway but the partner flashed his gun quickly at his face and he backed off again.
Since she had moved, the officer happily began his search again starting again at her arms and moving slowly down again. She tensed up again unable to help it since his touch was so intrusive and ugly to her.
"We could stay out here all night, baby," he said pushing her up against the car again with his body while his hands remained under her arms and across her breasts.
"You'd like that wouldn't you," she muttered through clenched teeth. He raised one of his hands and hit her in the back of the neck with his forearm as he shoved her again.
"What was that, kitten?" he asked as she caught her breath from the blow while still restraining herself.
"This is so not good," Buffy said nervously to Kennedy. "Go get Giles," she said finally deciding things were definitely about to get really bad. Kennedy nodded and quickly ran back into the diner for Giles.
"Get your fucking hands off of her!" Xander screamed again watching his hands lingering around her chest.
"Settle down, son," the partner said but now he was clearly becoming a little tired of his partner's game. Giles jogged out of the diner with Kennedy and the others were following behind at a walk so they were a little farther behind. Giles met Buffy and immediately paused and processed the situation quickly. It was one skill that he had always been extensively trained in with the Watcher training, but he was particularly good at it.
"This is not good," Buffy muttered to him. He could see the tears welling up in her eyes and he answered her with as comforting of a look as he could manage.
"It could be worse."
"How?" Buffy asked spinning around to look at him quickly.
"They could know who she is…" Giles reminded.
"That fucking creep better get his hands off of her," Robin said walking past Giles and Buffy. Buffy quickly jumped forward and grabbed him and pulled him back.
"Don't," Buffy said not sure of why, she just had a feeling it would be better.
"Does he always have this much trouble just watching?" the officer asked suggestively leaning his mouth close to Faith's ear as though he was asking her a secret. He lowered his hands running them around her waist, squeezing it happily. From his close proximity, leaning against her, Faith could feel that he was having lots of fun and it made her feel like she was about to vomit. He ran his hands down to her hips then slid them forward and down till he ran them between her legs. He squeezed her upper-inner thigh and Xander could practically hear Faith holding herself back from snapping this guys neck.
"That's enough!!!" Xander screamed again.
"I don't want to have to say it again," the partner said holding his gun up again.
"Giles, do something," Buffy said thin tears actually running down her face.
"She's handling it…" he explained.
"She shouldn't have to!" Buffy quickly defended.
"You're right, but it would be best, if possible, to just sit it out and wait for them to leave."
"Giles, say something!" she demanded. "Faith's been eying that guys gun for the past five minutes, Giles, you better do something quick before she's decided she's had enough… she's real close to it," Buffy stated firmly.
"Alright," Giles said seeing that Buffy's observation was a reality. He waited one more moment but as he saw the cops hands squeezing her inner thigh he stepped forward.
"Freeze!" the partner said holding up his gun at Giles.
"Officer, what seems to be the problem?" Xander quickly took his eyes off of Faith to see where Giles had come from and he saw him approaching confidently as well as everyone standing in a little group just around the corner. The officer lowered his gun from Giles and glanced back at Xander then back at Giles. Xander returned his gaze to Faith and he saw the officer squeeze her roughly.
"What the fuck!" he screamed finally charging over towards her. The tears he could see finally start to form in her eyes as she tried to zone herself farther and farther away from reality. He could see her regulating her breath to stay calm and forcing her twitching muscles not to be allowed to spin around and beat this guy into a bloody pulp. Xander had also seen her eying the guys gun but he repeated steadily in his head, 'don't do it, Faith,' which thankfully, one way or another she had heard and restrained herself from what she really wanted to do. The partner jumped in front of him and the two shoved each other.
"Son, settle down," the partner said in a more understanding tone than before. Obviously he had seen what his friend had done and he wasn't comfortable with the situation any more so he was kind of leaning more towards siding with these teenagers.
"Get him the fuck away from her!" Xander yelled threatening to go and do it himself.
"Let's go," the partner finally said to his friend. His friend finally lifted himself off of her. She knowledgably still didn't move off of the car knowing it would just be another excuse for him to shove her again and she really didn't think she could take him doing that again without her defending herself.
"Excuse me," Giles said again this time more strongly. "What is the problem?"
"There's no problem," the first officer said finally turning away from Faith towards Giles.
"Yeah there is!" Xander yelled.
"What was the reason for that, hmm, extensive search, officer?" Giles pushed.
"Let's go," the first officer said to his partner ready to leave ignoring Giles question.
"Excuse me," he said again stepping between the car door and the officer.
"Umm…" he said making it obvious that he was making up a reason, "we got tipped off that there would be a drug exchange in this parking lot tonight… two drug dealers, a girl and a guy, the girl was supposed to have all of the stuff on her… good one, huh?"
"I'm very impressed," Giles answered sardonically. The officer stepped around Giles moving back towards Faith.
"Put your legs together, honey, you look like a slut…" he said pulling her off of the side of the car. She looked at him, and god, if looks could kill, that man would be already six feet underground. She didn't say a word as he smiled suggestively at her licking his bottom lip for good measure before getting into the car and driving away.
"Faith, are you alright?" Giles asked cautiously. She had that look, that look that made it seem like she was looking straight through you and onto whatever was behind you. That look that made you feel hollow inside when you saw it. A look that should show fear and anxiety but was always interpreted as strength and indifference. She didn't even answer him she just glanced over at Buffy and the rest of the gang who were already slowly approaching. Faith walked quickly towards the wall of the diner (they were behind the diner in the parking lot) to where the garbage was put out and where any wooden shipment boxes were stacked. She appeared pretty calm, all things considered, but things definitely changed once she reached the brick wall.
All of a sudden she was punching and kicking the brick wall screaming as she did so. She picked up various wooden boxes sending them splintering into thousands of pieces as they collided at high speeds with the brick wall. Xander ran over to her, being the only one since everyone else was either shocked at her sudden shift, or just not wanting to be anywhere near her. He reached her and just grabbed her arms from behind her and held onto them with all of his strength. She continued to kick violently out at the wall lifting herself off of the ground being anchored by Xander holding her arms.
"Stop it… stop… Faith, please… stop it!" he begged trying to just hold onto her during her fit. "Stop!" he said again pulling her back as hard as he could. She finally caught herself but with that realization came all of the others. A rush of emotion surged through her body and that feeling of wanting to vomit rose within her again. "It's okay… Faith, it's okay," Xander comforted even though his voice was still angry and upset. He turned her around so that she was facing him, which she did very willingly. She grabbed his jacket desperately pulling herself into him burying her face in his chest with only a momentary hesitation. He wrapped his arms around her holding her tightly noticing the blood streaming from both of her hands from their previous activity of punching brick. "It's okay… you did so good," he soothed. She was shaking with anger in his arms and the feeling made him want to just completely break down, but he knew he had to be strong so he just held her while supplying small words of comfort.
She seemed to relax herself finally and she raised her face from his chest to looking up at him. From the redness of her eyes and the small wet droplets on his shirt he could tell she was crying, but now she had been able to refrain herself now appearing more pissed off and angry than upset, which is what she was going for he was sure. She looked into his eyes and he could see her jaw still twitching from anger.
"Sorry," she finally said pulling out of his hold. She wanted to just jump back into his arms as she felt the cold air bite at her as she left his warmth. "I lost my shit for a minute there," she admitted as though no one realized.
"You didn't lose your shit on the cop, that's what matters," he answered honestly. The rest of the gang now walked over.
"You were about to," Buffy said walking over trying to lighten the situation if at all possible. She remembered the first time she saw Faith confronted by an officer, and the way she acted was completely different. With the first, Buffy remembered being frozen with fear and Faith had just laughed it off and flirted with the cop as he held a gun up to both of them. Now she had stood there and put up with garbage she probably wouldn't have taken from anyone a few years ago.
"Nah, I learned that lesson already," Faith answered pulling a cigarette out of the pack from her pocket. "I've killed fucking pricks for less than that," she added angrily as she walked away from the group making it quite clear that she didn't desire to be followed.
"Faith, I have some things in the car for your hands," Giles called to her hoping it would keep her from walking away. She didn't even acknowledge he said anything and continued to just walk out of the parking lot. Robin watched her along with the rest of them as she left but then as she rounded the corner out of sight he glanced over at the brick wall. It was cracked in some of the spots she had hit it but the rough surface clung to the skin on her knuckles proving itself by small splotches of blood focused on the center of her unseen target.
"Am I the only person that wouldn't have minded if that had been that assholes face?" he said looking back at everyone else who had formed a small circle around the area.
"I would've fucking helped her kick his ass!" Kennedy answered fuming with anger.
"Faith would've had no problem killing that guy all by herself," Andrew shot at her defensively.
"Buffy, you always talked about how Faith couldn't control her temper when you talked about her… I'd say that was pretty good control, not that I understand why the hell she didn't just kill that fuck."
"She couldn't afford to have them press her for ID," Willow defended.
"Why the hell not!?" he answered angrily. His anxiety and aggravation that he had been able to control about the situation finally overflowed, "she could've fucking gotten away from them without breaking a sweat."
"She could've…" Buffy answered, "but she wasn't going to leave Xander there, and… there are certain things that… make her kinda zone out. Faith can handle baggage better than anyone when she's fighting, but there are certain things that she can't - and she zones when she hits those." Everyone knew by the tone in Buffy's voice, that she had seen her like that and it forced everyone to realize how close the two of them once had been. "I'm going to go get her," Buffy finally said after looking down the road she had left for a few minutes. "Can you guys just get everything ready to leave… I think we should try and just go once I get her back." Giles nodded at her request and everyone sauntered in different direction, each silently designating themselves a certain job to get ready to leave.
----
Buffy walked down the street she had watched Faith leave down. She moved quickly along the concrete sidewalk with her heels clicking strongly against it echoing her steps as she walked. She walked down the street till she saw a small alley cut off on the right. She walked down it sensing that that was exactly where she'd find Faith. The alley was lit by the reflection of a street lamp off of a car's windshield. Faith sat on a wooden box towards the back of the alley smoking a cigarette leaning her arms on her thighs slouching forward. She looked up as she heard the clicks of Buffy's shoes approaching down the alley.
"You okay?"
"You know me," she answered inhaling her cigarette again.
"Yeah I do, that's why I'm asking," Buffy answered her quickly.
"I'm five by five, B."
"I saw you eyeing his gun, Faith." She smirked sarcastically and answered,
"Yeah, well you know I've got a fetish…"
"I just don't get how you didn't snap - Faith, I've seen you freak on people for a lot less than that."
"Yeah, I just didn't want to set a bad example… you know, for Dawn and Kennedy," she answered sarcastically again.
"You're not having a very good couple of days," Buffy said trying to get a smile out of her.
"B, I'm not having a good fucking decade," she answered exhaling a stream of grey smoke.
"Well, it can only get better," Buffy noted.
"That's what I used to tell myself… things just always find a way to be worse."
"It'll get better," she promised, "it'll get easier too," she added comfortingly showing that she was at least trying to understand what Faith was going through. She hadn't really thought about how Faith had felt getting out of prison since she had just jumped into fighting again as soon as she had gotten out. As Faith had admitted to her once, 'fighting and fucking are definitely good distractions'.
Faith only gave a slight nod in response to Buffy's promises.
"Faith, talk to me," Buffy finally said almost pleadingly.
"Yeah, since I'm so good at that."
"You know, you used to put on a mask around all of us, but at least you would have a face to show, even if it wasn't the real one, you showed something! God, Faith… you're blank…"
"I always tried to tell you I was a boring person," she answered still with that defensive sarcasm dripping off all of her words.
"You scare me when you're like this," Buffy admitted.
"If I'm really freakin' you out you can always just call that cop back and have him put me back… can't scare you then." She said finally letting some of her anger creep out even if it was only in her tone.
"Faith-" Buffy said her voice cracking as she said it, "stop it."
"Whatever," Faith answered exhaling the last bit of her cigarette as she threw it down on the ground.
"You're not going back," Buffy comforted.
"You're right, I'm not fucking going back," Faith answered strongly but still calmly with a hint of her old attitude streaked through her words.
"Hey," Xander said as he appeared walking into the alley.
"God, does everything have to be a fucking family hug with you losers," Faith spat hopping off the box she had been sitting on.
"Sorry," he answered stepping to the side.
"Let's just get gone," Faith said walking past both of them back towards the cars.
---
"We all ready?" Robin asked as Buffy, Faith, and Xander reached the vehicles. Faith had gotten there first, about twenty paces in front of the other two and had just gotten into the passenger seat of the Suburban.
"Yeah," Xander answered as he headed for the drivers seat of the truck.
"We can probably get there in another four or five hours," Giles stated heading for the car. Willow, Kennedy, Dawn, and Andrew followed him and everyone else got into the truck. Xander looked over at Faith as he waited for the big diesel engine to start up. She sat leaning up against the door with her feet planted flatly on the middle seat of the bench with her knees bent up close to her chest. As they drove down the highway Buffy watched Faith from the backseat behind Xander. She watched her finally close her eyes after staring at the upcoming road ahead of them. She saw her fighting off sleep but eventually she gave up and drifted off slightly. She would wakeup after about twenty minutes or so and open her eyes quickly glancing around and then after about two or three minutes she would close them again.
Finally after being on the road for what seemed like forever Giles pulled onto a street that led them to many large intersections and the area began to look more and more like an active city. Xander looked over at Faith and saw that she was asleep again. He then followed Giles onto a smaller street with a dead end sign. It seemed kind of out of place because after going on the busy main street this street had hardly anything built on it with a few closed down stores scattered towards the beginning of it. They reached the end of the street and drove into the hidden driveway of the house at the end of the street. It was a sharp left after you entered the driveway sending you behind a wall and then it rounded into a large, underground garage. They stopped at a grey concrete wall with a door off to the side of it and parked. Everyone piled out of the vehicles and Xander patted Faith's calf as he said softly,
"We're here." She opened her eyes and gave a slight nod.