CHAPTER THREE: THE DINNER
The day-early 'Christmas Eve' Dinner started well enough. Faith was running late, as was apparently typical for her according to Willow. Buffy was fidgeting nervously, wondering how to tell Willow about her new…or was it 'old'…status as the Slayer. Willow, Tara, Buffy and Harry lingered in Willow's living room, chatting comfortably between the four of them. Harry was keeping a hold of Buffy's hand to keep her from losing her nerves.
She sighed in half-relief, half-terror when Faith entered the apartment. She'd been waiting for the brunette girl to make her appearance before telling everyone about her Calling. She knew that it also affected Faith. She could remember the terror she'd felt when she'd met Kendra for the first time. It had proven that she was mortal. It had shown her that she had really died. Except for the fact that it hadn't been her death that had activated Kendra as a Slayer. It had been a girl on the other side of the world who was the actual Slayer. Not Buffy.
Faith entered, carrying three shopping bags full of drinks. She placed them on the table and suddenly tensed, feeling a presence within the room that made the back of her neck tingle. Buffy too could feel the presence of something that made her senses begin to go haywire. She jumped to her feet almost in time with Faith and the two Slayers went into identical fighting positions.
Faith's eyes locked onto Buffy's, and the brunette girl's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
She'd always been able to sense the magic that came off Buffy, Harry and Tara. She could feel smaller amounts of it in Willow, but the three teens she could always sense. She just couldn't work out why it was that Buffy Summers was now making her senses go off the charts.
"What are you?" Faith demanded angrily.
Willow stood up quickly, not understanding what was going on between her best friend and the brunette Slayer.
"Woah, hey, time out here," Willow said, her voice slightly panicked. "Let's not over-react."
Buffy and Faith both ignored the redhead, Faith refusing to let Buffy out of her line of sight, and Buffy trying to work out exactly what was going on.
"I've never been able to sense you this much B," Faith said. "What's the deal? You get vamped or something?"
"Do I feel like a vampire to you?" Buffy retorted.
Faith extended her senses, trying to categorise what she was feeling. It wasn't the same as a vampire. Her skin was tingling, her stomach was tightening, but it wasn't in a bad way. I felt…it felt almost familiar. Like the missing piece of herself. But that didn't make any sense.
"Why don't you just tell me what the hell is going on here before I rip you a new one," Faith threatened.
Buffy dropped her fighting position and reached behind her back to pull out a weapon. She threw it to Faith who caught it easily. The brunette Slayer stared dumbly at the weapon that felt so very familiar to her hands.
Faith looked between Buffy and the stake, her mind processing what was happening.
"You're a Slayer," Faith finally said.
Buffy nodded. Willow gasped. Tara gaped.
"How?" Willow asked.
Buffy looked to Faith, trying to see if the brunette girl understood why she was no longer the only Chosen One.
"I flat-lined," Faith remembered. "In hospital. I died."
"Long enough for another Slayer to be Called," Buffy finished.
Faith felt her mind spin and she quickly moved to sit on the couch before her legs gave out beneath her. It was strange. She knew that she'd been technically dead while she'd been in hospital, but having some sort of tangible proof seemed to make it that much more real.
"Holy shit," Faith whispered.
"Sums it up," Harry quipped.
Faith smirked and looked up at Buffy.
"How you holding up, B?" Faith asked, genuinely concerned for the girl.
Buffy shook her head and shrugged.
"Overwhelmed I guess. I mean…I did the whole Slayer gig for two and a bit years, but…I thought I was finished with it," Buffy admitted.
"And now you really are a Slayer," Willow added.
"Yup…two girls in all the world, chosen to hunt the vampires," Buffy quoted, looking up at Faith.
Faith couldn't help but smile at the familiar prophecy that her Watcher had been trying to get her to respect for the last year or so. It hadn't worked so far, but there was definitely something about the way that Buffy had said it.
"Chosen Two, huh?" Faith asked.
Buffy grinned and nodded. Faith stood and approached the shorter girl. They stood in front of each other hesitatingly before they simultaneously held a hand out for the other to shake, their hands clasping each others wrists in a warrior's greeting.
Tara watched in confusion before leaning towards Willow and whispering, "is there a secret handshake for Slayers?"
Willow giggled and shook her head. "Not that I know of. I think they're just making it up as they go along."
The two Slayers hesitated a moment longer before giving in and hugging one another tightly. Faith stepped back after a moment and coughed slightly. Buffy grinned and looked to Willow.
"I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that we came here to get fed," Buffy said cheekily.
Willow laughed a little and nodded. "Sure thing. If there's one thing that Faith's taught me, it's not to get in between a Slayer and her food."
"Hey!" Faith cried indignantly.
Willow just smirked. She looked to Tara and held her hand out to her girlfriend, tugging the tall blonde girl into the kitchen, leaving the two Slayers and the Wizard to converse.
"So, you got a Watcher, or what?" Faith asked.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yup. He seems like a bit of a git, but…I guess you can't have everything go your way," Buffy commented.
Faith grinned, understanding completely.
"Yeah, I get that. Wes isn't too bad anymore. He used to be a real ass, but…I loosened him up a bit," the brunette Slayer declared proudly. "He can be pretty cool sometimes."
"He's an ex Gryffindor, of course he's gonna be pretty cool," Buffy said with a grin.
Harry looked at his girlfriend curiously. As soon as he'd heard the familiar House name, his interest had been peaked.
"Gryffindor? Faith's Watcher went to Hogwarts?" he asked.
Buffy nodded. "Yup. He was friends with Ron's dad," Buffy explained.
"Wicked!" Harry exclaimed, reminding Buffy of Ron for a moment.
"Wait…Wes is a wizard?" Faith asked incredulously.
Buffy looked at her sister Slayer in confusion. "You didn't know that?"
"Hell no!" Faith replied. "How the hell is it that you meet the guy for five minutes and you know more him that I do when I've known the guy for a year and a half?"
"Uh, Faith, you've avoided the guy for a year and a half, you mean," Willow reminded her as she re-entered the room with Tara.
Faith paused for a moment before nodding. "Hmm…forgot about that slight detail."
------------------------
"Okay…is anyone else thinking that this is a tremendously bad idea?" Willow asked.
Tara put her hand up nervously. Harry just smirked and sat on the couch, eagerly awaiting what was to come.
"C'mon Red, we won't do too much damage," Faith assured the nervous redhead.
Willow whimpered but took a seat beside Tara, clutching the younger girls hand.
Buffy and Faith had shrugged out of their heavy jumpers and were left in t-shirts and jeans. Their shoes had been discarded and all of the furniture in Willow's small living room had been moved to the side of the room.
The two Slayers were now circling each other, both of them grinning widely. Neither of them had had sparring partners for a long time, especially not partners who would be able to keep up with them in terms of strength. Buffy hadn't been able to spar with anyone properly since she and Angel had last sparred before he'd lost his soul.
Faith was the first to strike, lunging towards Buffy, who quickly dodged the punch and countered with a low sweeping kick at Faith's legs. The brunette Slayer jumped at the last moment, diving into a roll and landing on the other side of the room. They circled each other again, this time Buffy striking first with a punch that landed accurately against Faith's jaw, sending the taller Slayer stumbling slightly.
Faith regrouped and sent a stunning roundhouse kick at Buffy who didn't quite duck in time, and clipped Buffy's jaw. She fell to the floor and quickly back-flipped back onto her feet.
"That really looks painful," Tara whispered to Willow. The redhead nodded in agreement.
Harry was sitting slack-jawed and shifting his position every few seconds, taking in the sight of his girlfriend sparring with the taller brunette. He'd seen Buffy and Hermione mock-spar a few times and it had never been anything like what he was watching now. His girlfriend was practically dancing, and Harry could tell by the smile on Buffy's face that she was enjoying herself completely.
For twenty minutes, the two Slayers punched, kicked, dodged, ducked and weaved the many combinations of attacks that they'd been taught over the years, trying to get the best of each other.
Buffy managed to surprise Faith with a sharp punch to the jaw that sent Faith sprawling onto her back. Buffy stood over the girl, a foot on her chest. Faith tried to get up but decided it wasn't worth the effort. She let her head drop to the floor and breathed in deeply.
"Had enough?" Buffy asked. She took her foot off Faith and bent down to give the other girl a hand, helping Faith to get to her feet.
"Damn you're good," Faith said, breathing hard.
"You're not too bad yourself," Buffy complimented her. "We'll hafta patrol together sometime."
Faith thought about it for a moment before grinning.
"Sounds cool B."
-----
Sorry for the delay in posting. Had probs with my comp…never good. Happy Australia Day people!! Many thanks for all your feedback!
Toodles.
DKG.