author: Lucinda
rating: pg 13
pairing: Faith/David (from Lost Boys)
Darkened Faith 9: What Did You Do?
disclaimer: I hold no legal rights to any characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the movie Lost Boys.
distribution: Twisting the Hellmouth, TNL. anyone else ask.
note: rather AU-ish for Faith. No big needed in Sunnydale Crisis, no big needed in LA crisis. Post Lost Boys the Movie.
* * * *
David hadn't quite known what to do when the giant newt had gone after Faith. He'd ended up grabbing the thing's tail, belatedly remembering something about some lizards loosing theirs if a predator grabbed them. But surely this wouldn't be one of them, right? He could only hope as he tried to hold it back.
He knew that he hadn't quite succeeded when the scent of Faith' s blood filled the air, almost drowning out the stench of the newt-thing. But it wasn't enough to stop his girl, and he watched as she began slamming her gun into the monster's skull. Gradually, the thing stopped moving, and collapsed to the ground, landing in a pool of blood and trash with a meaty splat.
But the scent of her blood was still thick, too thick. He could hear something liquid dribbling downwards, splashing on the metal of the fire escape and then down below on the monster's corpse. Dread seized him as he looked at Faith, seeing her face oddly pale as she swayed, her arm open to the bone.
"It's dead. Hooray." Faith's voice sounded weak, and a bit higher pitched than normal, and she kept blinking, as if trying to make her eyes focus. "Maybe I should take a rain check for that cider…"
He was already moving towards her, worried by that paleness and the swaying when she just crumpled. David barely managed to catch her in time to prevent her head from slamming into the rusted fire escape. Her arm was bleeding, too much for it to just stop, and he wasn't certain if a hospital would be able to help her.
"Damn it, this wasn't how I wanted this to happen." He was trying to slow the bleeding, putting pressure on her arm, but it wasn't working fast enough. He reached up, sliding his finger into her mouth, opening her jaws. Letting his nails grow sharp, he made a slice at the base of his thumb, and let some of his blood fall into her mouth.
Hopefully, it would be enough to make her into a half vampire. Hopefully, that would help her to heal, keep her from dying because of this newt. Hopefully she wouldn't hate him and try to kill him for this.
Cradling her close, he flew to his little apartment, carrying her inside and placing her on his bed. The bleeding had finally stopped, but her heartbeat was weak. This wasn't how he'd hoped to have her in his bed. He'd imagined less clothing and more passion, not him sitting vigil as she lay injured and unconscious.
Slowly, he licked the blood from his hands, and found a towel to clean up her arm. Tempting as the idea of licking that blood away might be, he didn't know how long she'd be asleep. A Slayer waking up with a vampire licking blood from her wounded body could get very ugly very quickly. After the blood was cleaned away, he wrapped the injury, laying several gauze pads over the wound and wrapping them securely.
David didn't know how long he sat there, listening to the slow sounds of her breathing and the soft beating of her heart. He was carefully watching as her chest rose and fell with each breath, as her throat fluttered with every beat of her pulse. She seemed smaller like this, still and helpless... It wasn't right. It was unsettling and disturbing to see her like that, and it made him want to pull her close and protect her.
Gradually, her breathing became a bit deeper, a bit more steady - more the pattern of sleep than the pattern of someone deeply wounded. Her pulse was stronger as well. Everything looked as if she would be asleep for several hours. Smiling at her, he pulled a blanket over her, tucking it under her body just a bit, his hand lingering slightly over her hip. "Rest well, my Faith."
She was healing far more rapidly than a normal human. But was it because he'd made her into a half vampire, or because she was a Slayer? Perhaps it would be best to get some blood for her, just in case. And considering that he doubted she'd be wanting to kill and become a full vampire, it would probably have to be in those stupid little bags from the hospitals. Those never tasted quite right, although it would be 'safe' for her to drink. He'd rather give her some of his blood, but that could be risky. If she took too much, he'd become weak.
There really wasn't too much trouble slipping into the local clinic, or finding the room where they kept the blood units. He took a half dozen, from the large stockpile of A positive blood. Wouldn't want to cause too noticeable a shortage, after all. Then, moved by this annoying sense of responsibility and awareness of consequences that had been gaining volume since he'd started stalking Faith, he left a couple hundred dollars in their place. This whole consequences thing could be so annoying... But he was almost certain that Faith was worth it.
Returning to his apartment, he tucked the blood bags into his little refrigerator. That taken care of, he kicked off his boots, and went to take a shower. He couldn't help but imagine different ways this could turn out - Faith at his side, his lover, his hunting partner, his Childe. Yeah, those were some enjoyable images.
After toweling himself off, he found a pair of boxer shorts to slide on, and slipped into the bed beside Faith, resting his head on her shoulder. Maybe he could try to convince her it was so he could monitor her heartbeat? They rested like that, looking peaceful to any physical observer.
She moved a little, half turning over in her slumber. David awoke as her shoulder was pulled from under him, dropping his head to the mattress. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to chase away the lingering sleep. She would have questions, and it might be good to be awake when he had to answer them.
Faith's motion put pressure on her wounded arm, and she came awake abruptly, with a half swallowed yelp. She sat up, her other hand flying towards her temple as she swayed a little, and looked around the room. "Where...? David? How did I get here? And..." Her eyes slid down his nearly naked body and back up again. "You seem to have lost your clothing."
"Welcome to my place. I brought you here after you killed the newt." He smiled at her, wondering how she'd react. Hopefully, there was some trust there.
Her tongue flicked over her lips, and she shifted her weight on the bed, no longer looking as helpless. "I feel a bit woozy. And my arm..."
"I bandaged you up." His words were low, and he tried to convince himself not to explain everything at once. It would probably be better if she adjusted to things slowly.
Faith looked at her arm, her fingers skimming over the bandages. "Nice work. Have you done this sort of thing before?" Then, her tongue flicked out again, a hint of it visible as she licked over her teeth. In an uneasy whisper, she looked at him. "That's... why does my mouth taste like blood?"
"I kept you from dying." The words were low, and he could feel his eyes flickering golden as he tried to make her understand why. "Faith, you didn't see it. There was blood all over, dripping down the fire escape. You were paler than I am, and barely breathing."
Her fingers crept up, dancing over her throat, obviously seeking her pulse as her eyes grew wider and her breathing faster. "What did you do to me?"
In a single bound, he was beside her, and he gently moved her seeking fingers to rest over her pulse. "You aren't dead, Faith."
"Then what am I, David? I can smell the blood and the slime from that damn newt thing. I can hear your neighbors, and I know that I shouldn't be able to, not like this. What did you do to me?" Her voice was edging towards frantic as she looked into his eyes.
There would be no evading the question now. "I gave you some of my blood."
"I... I drank blood?" She looked shaken, as if it was something that she'd never thought that she would do. "I drank someone's blood?"
"Yeah." He touched her hair, tucking the lock behind her ear. "I didn't want you to die, Faith."
"What, you just wanted me?" Her voice held a shadow of her normal teasing.
"When have I ever made a secret of that?" He tried to make her smile, to relax her a bit.
"I can't... I can't go killing people, David." She whispered, her eyes going again to the bandages on her arm.
"You'll still have the blood hunger. Maybe not as strong as a full vampire, but it will be there." He tried to keep his words soft and soothing. Carefully, he got a stein from a shelf, and rinsed it with water before emptying one of the bags of blood into it. "This should help with that."
She accepted the mug from his hand, looking at it as if she expected the mug to bite her. As she looked into the red liquid, her eyes paled to amber. Her tongue flicked over her lips uneasily. "You want me to drink blood?"
"It will make you feel better, I promise." He sat beside her, not quite touching. "Blood helps speed the healing process."
Slowly, the mug raised, hovering at her lips for a long moment before she tilted it slightly. It looked as if she intended to barely wet her lips, but the moment that she tasted it, she began to swallow in down. She quickly drank down the mug, licking the last traces of blood from her lips. "That wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be. You said it wouldn't be as strong as a full vampire. What does that make me?"
"I gave you some of my blood, but you didn't die. That makes you half. Not quite a vampire, not quite mortal anymore. A half vampire becomes stronger and faster, with better senses." He looked at her, trying to read her reactions. "It also slows the aging and speeds healing."
"Will the fact that I'm the Slayer change any of that?" Faith looked at him, putting the mug on the small stand that held a clock. "And what's the down side?"
"I'm not entirely sure. I've never tried to turn a Slayer, or seen it happen." David put his hand on the bed beside hers. "But I can tell that it is changing you. You have the teeth right now, and the eyes. You heard the neighbors."
Faith stood up, tensing as her face paled with the sudden motion. "ohh... That thing must have half killed me." She sank back onto the bed, leaning back against him with a dazed expression. "How long does this half thing last?"
"You'll sunburn more easily than you did before, and the lights will feel brighter. There's the blood lust. Your reflection will probably start to fade. It's not that bad, Faith."
"You didn't tell me how long it lasts." Her voice was a bit stronger, and she seemed to realize that she was leaning against him now. She wiggled a little, moving so that she could look into his face. "How long?"
David sighed, closing his eyes as he leaned forward, his arm sliding around her in a gentle hug. "It won't just go away, Faith. It's until someone dies."
"Someone? Until who dies? David... explain this." Faith's voice spun with anger and questions and fear.
"If you die, you're just dead, probably. If you have enough vampire blood in you, there's a chance that you might rise." David reached up, cupping his hand over her cheek. "If I die, you become mortal again. If you give in to the blood lust and drain someone, you become a full vampire."
Faith shivered, and closed her eyes, leaning against him. "I'm becoming a vampire... the one thing I was supposed to stand against. Is there something to make this better? Other than the not dying part?"
Cuddling her closer, he whispered. "You'll be able to fly."
"I can fly? Really?" Faith looked at him, here eyes brightening. "I don't feel like I can fly..."
Chuckling he looked into her eyes. "Well, maybe not quite yet. But as soon as your body finishes adjusting and changing, you'll be able to fly. It still takes a bit of practice, but half vampires - at least, in my lineage - can fly."
"So, what do I do now?" Her question sounded as if she didn't expect an answer.
Smiling, he answered her. "Right now, you rest. You lost a lot of blood, and your body is still trying to heal and change. So, I prescribe bed rest, and another unit of blood when you wake up. And maybe we can call for some carry out for you, if you're feeling better."
"What, you're a doctor now?" She teased, sounding almost like her normal self just then.
"Not anymore. I used to be, a long time ago. Then, I moved to California, hoping to escape the memories. That's where I bumped into Max, and he decided that I needed to... well, he made me part of his family." He smiled slightly at the still painful memories. "I was a doctor with the third Virginian Army. Two of my brothers died, one on my table as I fought to save him. Another two were crippled, and my sister was left a widow by the War between the States."
"That's pretty miserable sounding." She carefully moved, resting her head on his thigh. "So, did you ever meet President Lincoln?"
"Did I ever meet him? Not exactly. I was at one of his campaign speeches, and heard him talk, but that's not the same as actually meeting someone." He stroked her hair, smiling at her. Things were going much better than he'd hoped. "You should rest now."
"stay here?" Her words were mumbled, as if she was already half asleep.
"You won't be getting rid of me that easily, Faith. I've got you here with me, and I'm not letting go." He spoke softly, feeling oddly warm inside from her request.
She made another noise, but it wasn't quite anything that he could make sense out of. David just smiled, feeling as if victory was within his grasp. He had Faith.
end Darkened Faith 9: What Did You Do?
rating: pg 13
pairing: Faith/David (from Lost Boys)
Darkened Faith 9: What Did You Do?
disclaimer: I hold no legal rights to any characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the movie Lost Boys.
distribution: Twisting the Hellmouth, TNL. anyone else ask.
note: rather AU-ish for Faith. No big needed in Sunnydale Crisis, no big needed in LA crisis. Post Lost Boys the Movie.
* * * *
David hadn't quite known what to do when the giant newt had gone after Faith. He'd ended up grabbing the thing's tail, belatedly remembering something about some lizards loosing theirs if a predator grabbed them. But surely this wouldn't be one of them, right? He could only hope as he tried to hold it back.
He knew that he hadn't quite succeeded when the scent of Faith' s blood filled the air, almost drowning out the stench of the newt-thing. But it wasn't enough to stop his girl, and he watched as she began slamming her gun into the monster's skull. Gradually, the thing stopped moving, and collapsed to the ground, landing in a pool of blood and trash with a meaty splat.
But the scent of her blood was still thick, too thick. He could hear something liquid dribbling downwards, splashing on the metal of the fire escape and then down below on the monster's corpse. Dread seized him as he looked at Faith, seeing her face oddly pale as she swayed, her arm open to the bone.
"It's dead. Hooray." Faith's voice sounded weak, and a bit higher pitched than normal, and she kept blinking, as if trying to make her eyes focus. "Maybe I should take a rain check for that cider…"
He was already moving towards her, worried by that paleness and the swaying when she just crumpled. David barely managed to catch her in time to prevent her head from slamming into the rusted fire escape. Her arm was bleeding, too much for it to just stop, and he wasn't certain if a hospital would be able to help her.
"Damn it, this wasn't how I wanted this to happen." He was trying to slow the bleeding, putting pressure on her arm, but it wasn't working fast enough. He reached up, sliding his finger into her mouth, opening her jaws. Letting his nails grow sharp, he made a slice at the base of his thumb, and let some of his blood fall into her mouth.
Hopefully, it would be enough to make her into a half vampire. Hopefully, that would help her to heal, keep her from dying because of this newt. Hopefully she wouldn't hate him and try to kill him for this.
Cradling her close, he flew to his little apartment, carrying her inside and placing her on his bed. The bleeding had finally stopped, but her heartbeat was weak. This wasn't how he'd hoped to have her in his bed. He'd imagined less clothing and more passion, not him sitting vigil as she lay injured and unconscious.
Slowly, he licked the blood from his hands, and found a towel to clean up her arm. Tempting as the idea of licking that blood away might be, he didn't know how long she'd be asleep. A Slayer waking up with a vampire licking blood from her wounded body could get very ugly very quickly. After the blood was cleaned away, he wrapped the injury, laying several gauze pads over the wound and wrapping them securely.
David didn't know how long he sat there, listening to the slow sounds of her breathing and the soft beating of her heart. He was carefully watching as her chest rose and fell with each breath, as her throat fluttered with every beat of her pulse. She seemed smaller like this, still and helpless... It wasn't right. It was unsettling and disturbing to see her like that, and it made him want to pull her close and protect her.
Gradually, her breathing became a bit deeper, a bit more steady - more the pattern of sleep than the pattern of someone deeply wounded. Her pulse was stronger as well. Everything looked as if she would be asleep for several hours. Smiling at her, he pulled a blanket over her, tucking it under her body just a bit, his hand lingering slightly over her hip. "Rest well, my Faith."
She was healing far more rapidly than a normal human. But was it because he'd made her into a half vampire, or because she was a Slayer? Perhaps it would be best to get some blood for her, just in case. And considering that he doubted she'd be wanting to kill and become a full vampire, it would probably have to be in those stupid little bags from the hospitals. Those never tasted quite right, although it would be 'safe' for her to drink. He'd rather give her some of his blood, but that could be risky. If she took too much, he'd become weak.
There really wasn't too much trouble slipping into the local clinic, or finding the room where they kept the blood units. He took a half dozen, from the large stockpile of A positive blood. Wouldn't want to cause too noticeable a shortage, after all. Then, moved by this annoying sense of responsibility and awareness of consequences that had been gaining volume since he'd started stalking Faith, he left a couple hundred dollars in their place. This whole consequences thing could be so annoying... But he was almost certain that Faith was worth it.
Returning to his apartment, he tucked the blood bags into his little refrigerator. That taken care of, he kicked off his boots, and went to take a shower. He couldn't help but imagine different ways this could turn out - Faith at his side, his lover, his hunting partner, his Childe. Yeah, those were some enjoyable images.
After toweling himself off, he found a pair of boxer shorts to slide on, and slipped into the bed beside Faith, resting his head on her shoulder. Maybe he could try to convince her it was so he could monitor her heartbeat? They rested like that, looking peaceful to any physical observer.
She moved a little, half turning over in her slumber. David awoke as her shoulder was pulled from under him, dropping his head to the mattress. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to chase away the lingering sleep. She would have questions, and it might be good to be awake when he had to answer them.
Faith's motion put pressure on her wounded arm, and she came awake abruptly, with a half swallowed yelp. She sat up, her other hand flying towards her temple as she swayed a little, and looked around the room. "Where...? David? How did I get here? And..." Her eyes slid down his nearly naked body and back up again. "You seem to have lost your clothing."
"Welcome to my place. I brought you here after you killed the newt." He smiled at her, wondering how she'd react. Hopefully, there was some trust there.
Her tongue flicked over her lips, and she shifted her weight on the bed, no longer looking as helpless. "I feel a bit woozy. And my arm..."
"I bandaged you up." His words were low, and he tried to convince himself not to explain everything at once. It would probably be better if she adjusted to things slowly.
Faith looked at her arm, her fingers skimming over the bandages. "Nice work. Have you done this sort of thing before?" Then, her tongue flicked out again, a hint of it visible as she licked over her teeth. In an uneasy whisper, she looked at him. "That's... why does my mouth taste like blood?"
"I kept you from dying." The words were low, and he could feel his eyes flickering golden as he tried to make her understand why. "Faith, you didn't see it. There was blood all over, dripping down the fire escape. You were paler than I am, and barely breathing."
Her fingers crept up, dancing over her throat, obviously seeking her pulse as her eyes grew wider and her breathing faster. "What did you do to me?"
In a single bound, he was beside her, and he gently moved her seeking fingers to rest over her pulse. "You aren't dead, Faith."
"Then what am I, David? I can smell the blood and the slime from that damn newt thing. I can hear your neighbors, and I know that I shouldn't be able to, not like this. What did you do to me?" Her voice was edging towards frantic as she looked into his eyes.
There would be no evading the question now. "I gave you some of my blood."
"I... I drank blood?" She looked shaken, as if it was something that she'd never thought that she would do. "I drank someone's blood?"
"Yeah." He touched her hair, tucking the lock behind her ear. "I didn't want you to die, Faith."
"What, you just wanted me?" Her voice held a shadow of her normal teasing.
"When have I ever made a secret of that?" He tried to make her smile, to relax her a bit.
"I can't... I can't go killing people, David." She whispered, her eyes going again to the bandages on her arm.
"You'll still have the blood hunger. Maybe not as strong as a full vampire, but it will be there." He tried to keep his words soft and soothing. Carefully, he got a stein from a shelf, and rinsed it with water before emptying one of the bags of blood into it. "This should help with that."
She accepted the mug from his hand, looking at it as if she expected the mug to bite her. As she looked into the red liquid, her eyes paled to amber. Her tongue flicked over her lips uneasily. "You want me to drink blood?"
"It will make you feel better, I promise." He sat beside her, not quite touching. "Blood helps speed the healing process."
Slowly, the mug raised, hovering at her lips for a long moment before she tilted it slightly. It looked as if she intended to barely wet her lips, but the moment that she tasted it, she began to swallow in down. She quickly drank down the mug, licking the last traces of blood from her lips. "That wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be. You said it wouldn't be as strong as a full vampire. What does that make me?"
"I gave you some of my blood, but you didn't die. That makes you half. Not quite a vampire, not quite mortal anymore. A half vampire becomes stronger and faster, with better senses." He looked at her, trying to read her reactions. "It also slows the aging and speeds healing."
"Will the fact that I'm the Slayer change any of that?" Faith looked at him, putting the mug on the small stand that held a clock. "And what's the down side?"
"I'm not entirely sure. I've never tried to turn a Slayer, or seen it happen." David put his hand on the bed beside hers. "But I can tell that it is changing you. You have the teeth right now, and the eyes. You heard the neighbors."
Faith stood up, tensing as her face paled with the sudden motion. "ohh... That thing must have half killed me." She sank back onto the bed, leaning back against him with a dazed expression. "How long does this half thing last?"
"You'll sunburn more easily than you did before, and the lights will feel brighter. There's the blood lust. Your reflection will probably start to fade. It's not that bad, Faith."
"You didn't tell me how long it lasts." Her voice was a bit stronger, and she seemed to realize that she was leaning against him now. She wiggled a little, moving so that she could look into his face. "How long?"
David sighed, closing his eyes as he leaned forward, his arm sliding around her in a gentle hug. "It won't just go away, Faith. It's until someone dies."
"Someone? Until who dies? David... explain this." Faith's voice spun with anger and questions and fear.
"If you die, you're just dead, probably. If you have enough vampire blood in you, there's a chance that you might rise." David reached up, cupping his hand over her cheek. "If I die, you become mortal again. If you give in to the blood lust and drain someone, you become a full vampire."
Faith shivered, and closed her eyes, leaning against him. "I'm becoming a vampire... the one thing I was supposed to stand against. Is there something to make this better? Other than the not dying part?"
Cuddling her closer, he whispered. "You'll be able to fly."
"I can fly? Really?" Faith looked at him, here eyes brightening. "I don't feel like I can fly..."
Chuckling he looked into her eyes. "Well, maybe not quite yet. But as soon as your body finishes adjusting and changing, you'll be able to fly. It still takes a bit of practice, but half vampires - at least, in my lineage - can fly."
"So, what do I do now?" Her question sounded as if she didn't expect an answer.
Smiling, he answered her. "Right now, you rest. You lost a lot of blood, and your body is still trying to heal and change. So, I prescribe bed rest, and another unit of blood when you wake up. And maybe we can call for some carry out for you, if you're feeling better."
"What, you're a doctor now?" She teased, sounding almost like her normal self just then.
"Not anymore. I used to be, a long time ago. Then, I moved to California, hoping to escape the memories. That's where I bumped into Max, and he decided that I needed to... well, he made me part of his family." He smiled slightly at the still painful memories. "I was a doctor with the third Virginian Army. Two of my brothers died, one on my table as I fought to save him. Another two were crippled, and my sister was left a widow by the War between the States."
"That's pretty miserable sounding." She carefully moved, resting her head on his thigh. "So, did you ever meet President Lincoln?"
"Did I ever meet him? Not exactly. I was at one of his campaign speeches, and heard him talk, but that's not the same as actually meeting someone." He stroked her hair, smiling at her. Things were going much better than he'd hoped. "You should rest now."
"stay here?" Her words were mumbled, as if she was already half asleep.
"You won't be getting rid of me that easily, Faith. I've got you here with me, and I'm not letting go." He spoke softly, feeling oddly warm inside from her request.
She made another noise, but it wasn't quite anything that he could make sense out of. David just smiled, feeling as if victory was within his grasp. He had Faith.
end Darkened Faith 9: What Did You Do?