A/N; sorry I took so long posting this I've been busy, plus I hate typing.
Anyway hope you like it and don't forget to review! (I promise to post the
next chapter soon)
2. D & M's with Faith
Out in the courtyard, Faith was enjoying a bit of peace and a cigarette. That is until she was disturbed by a short cough from behind her. Irritated at the interruption she turned, all set to give the owner of said cough an acidic glare and insult, but when she turned and saw sheepish looking Andrew nervously rocking on the balls of his feet, she just didn't have the heart: it would be like kicking a puppy.
And so after a moment of dramatic hesitation, just enough so that she didn't look sort, she nodded, giving him silent invitation to sit down next to her, which he did. It took him a little longer for him to find his voice, and when he did he still managed to sound anxious and confused.
"They don't ever forgive, do they?" he spoke so quietly and sadly that Faith actually felt sympathy for him, and for herself, because she knew exactly what he was saying, and so she let him follow through with his train of thought.
"If it's not someone in their group, someone that they love, it's like they don't matter, like were not worth forgiving. I mean, you turned yourself in and paid for what you did, but when Willow went all homicidal, she gets a vacation and welcomed back with open arms. Talk about double standards!" he sighed heavily when he finished and succumbed to the sitting in quiet reflection.
"And they don't listen when you're sorry, because they've already decided that you don't deserve it." Faith's tone was not sad or defeated; she just spoke as if she were stating something obvious, like saying the sun was shining. They stayed in their silent contemplation until Lorne stuck his head out the door and informed them that the meeting was resuming.
Flicking away her cigarette, Faith stood and offered Andrew her hand, which he took warily, but she smiled genuinely as she said, "Hoe about we find seats together for the next installment."
And so Faith and Andrew sat together on the round, red seat, and if anyone thought that this was odd, they kept it to themselves. Although, Robin did give her a slightly confused look, but she ignored it.
For the first hour, Andrew sat and listened patiently, but when Wes got to the part where he got her out of prison, he got more exited and began to fidget. Again, she found herself unable to berate him, a fact which, quite frankly, scared her, because she was starting to like the little freak.
"Did you really jump through a glass window like that?" he asked in awe. Several others in the room seemed impressed as well.
"Huh. You'd think they'd make it harder to break out of prison." Willow commented.
"It was only medium security. Plus, they didn't know about he whole superhuman strength thing" Faith explained.
And then the story continued the scoobies all sparing a thought for Cordelia. The tale was in fact shorter than it should have been, but since Conner's pert in it all was edited, it didn't take all that long to finish.
The less superhuman/demonic of the groups decided that it was time to turn in for the night, but Angel, Wes, Lorne, Faith, Burry and some slayerettes weren't tired.
"Anyone wanna go and kick some demon ass?" Faith was desperate for some action after sitting around all day. All of the slayerettes jumped at the chance and Wesley offered to give them a guided tour of L.A's more popular demon hotspots. The others politely declined and Lorne went up to his room, sensing that Buffy and Angel needed to talk.
***************************************************************
Faith and Wesley led the slayers around the city, proving that they were a force to be reckoned with. Wesley was impressed, to say the least, and after several action filled hours, he found himself paying for a round of drinks.
The two adults went to the bar and it wasn't long before Wes found him self saying something that he felt he may regret later, but he had to say it anyway.
"I'm proud of you." He said quietly looking at his drink and not at the girl beside him.
"What was that?!" Faith cried, practically choking on her drink.
"Look, I know that I was a terrible Watcher, and I don't expect you to forgive me for that, but I just want you to know that as you Watcher, I am proud of you." She smiled humorlessly before responding,
"I think that I'm the one that doesn't deserve forgiveness Wes," she spoke so quietly and she couldn't even bring herself to look at him, so she kept her gaze fixed on a water mark on the bar.
"Maybe, but I forgave you a long time ago Faith." He spoke quietly, just like she had, but his tone was final. At this point Faith found the courage to look him in the eye, and when she did, she was surprised to see that his perfect blue eyes were not clouded by anger or contempt, and that he had meant what he said.
"Okay," she said a little bashfully, "now that that's out of the way, how about we get our drink on?" With that she grabbed half of the drinks and left the rest for him.
All in all, they had a good night, so good, in fact that they failed to notice that it was almost dawn by the time they had decided to return to the Hyperion.
"Do you know what your going to do now that Sunnydale's gone?" Wes asked Faith casually as they walked back to base camp. She shook her head in reply, staring thoughtfully at the rising sun.
"I don't know." She said, "I suppose as an escaped convict I don't have a lot of options." As they continued to walk, Wesley was thinking about ho he could help her, after all, helping people was his job, but then why did he feel the need to rationalize his willingness to do this for her in his head?
***************************************************************8
When they got back, Faith left to check on Robin, but she bumped into Angel on the way. It had often been said that Angel was ignorant when it came to feelings and emotions, but even he could tell that something was bothering her. So he asked he could talk and after only a moment's hesitation, she agreed and followed him into his room.
"So what's bothering you?"
"You want a list?" she asked sarcastically.
"Sure. "Jeez, she thought, the guy must have the patience of a saint if he wants to hear all my problems.
"Well firstly, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now, the guy I screwed in Sunnyhell is looking to have some kind of relationship with me, and Wesley said that he forgives me." She finished breathlessly, whilst pacing the room before throwing herself in the armchair a little theatrically.
"Okay, firstly, why should Wes forgiving you be a problem?" Although he thought he could probably answer that himself.
"I don't know, it just is," she said avoiding his eye and berating herself for letting it slip out in the first place.
"Is it because you can't forgive yourself?" she sighed.
"Maybe. It's just I can't help thinking that if I forgive myself then I might forget everything I did and I'll slip up and do it again" all of her fears were coming to light and for some reason she could talk to him without all of her usual bravado.
"Faith, Wes and the others, they told me everything you did to get me back. You're not the same person you were back then, you've grown up and your stronger now, and I don't think for one second that you'll let yourself do that again." Seeing that what he had said had eased her worries somewhat, he effortlessly shifted into an overprotective big brother role, "so who's this guy'? She couldn't help but laugh at his dramatic change in tone.
"His name's Robin. He was the principal at Sunnydale High." Angel nodded to show he knew who she was talking about.
"He seems like a nice guy." He said, trying to be encouraging.
"Yeah, he is,"
"Do you wanna try that with a little more enthusiasm?" he goaded, "how do you feel about him? Do you love him?"
"I don't even know what love is." She said it so emotionlessly that it almost broke his heart.
"At the risk of sounding clichéd, Faith, you'll know when it happens." She nodded and rose to leave.
"Thanks for the pep talk, Yoda"
"Hey Faith," he called as she was about to leave the room, "you know there's always a job for you here, right?" That made her smile. He decided that he liked it when she smiled.
Worn out from all the talking she decided to check on Robin and get a few hours of sleep. When she got to the room they were sharing she found him fast asleep, so she took of her boots an laid down beside him drifting into a dreamless sleep.
2. D & M's with Faith
Out in the courtyard, Faith was enjoying a bit of peace and a cigarette. That is until she was disturbed by a short cough from behind her. Irritated at the interruption she turned, all set to give the owner of said cough an acidic glare and insult, but when she turned and saw sheepish looking Andrew nervously rocking on the balls of his feet, she just didn't have the heart: it would be like kicking a puppy.
And so after a moment of dramatic hesitation, just enough so that she didn't look sort, she nodded, giving him silent invitation to sit down next to her, which he did. It took him a little longer for him to find his voice, and when he did he still managed to sound anxious and confused.
"They don't ever forgive, do they?" he spoke so quietly and sadly that Faith actually felt sympathy for him, and for herself, because she knew exactly what he was saying, and so she let him follow through with his train of thought.
"If it's not someone in their group, someone that they love, it's like they don't matter, like were not worth forgiving. I mean, you turned yourself in and paid for what you did, but when Willow went all homicidal, she gets a vacation and welcomed back with open arms. Talk about double standards!" he sighed heavily when he finished and succumbed to the sitting in quiet reflection.
"And they don't listen when you're sorry, because they've already decided that you don't deserve it." Faith's tone was not sad or defeated; she just spoke as if she were stating something obvious, like saying the sun was shining. They stayed in their silent contemplation until Lorne stuck his head out the door and informed them that the meeting was resuming.
Flicking away her cigarette, Faith stood and offered Andrew her hand, which he took warily, but she smiled genuinely as she said, "Hoe about we find seats together for the next installment."
And so Faith and Andrew sat together on the round, red seat, and if anyone thought that this was odd, they kept it to themselves. Although, Robin did give her a slightly confused look, but she ignored it.
For the first hour, Andrew sat and listened patiently, but when Wes got to the part where he got her out of prison, he got more exited and began to fidget. Again, she found herself unable to berate him, a fact which, quite frankly, scared her, because she was starting to like the little freak.
"Did you really jump through a glass window like that?" he asked in awe. Several others in the room seemed impressed as well.
"Huh. You'd think they'd make it harder to break out of prison." Willow commented.
"It was only medium security. Plus, they didn't know about he whole superhuman strength thing" Faith explained.
And then the story continued the scoobies all sparing a thought for Cordelia. The tale was in fact shorter than it should have been, but since Conner's pert in it all was edited, it didn't take all that long to finish.
The less superhuman/demonic of the groups decided that it was time to turn in for the night, but Angel, Wes, Lorne, Faith, Burry and some slayerettes weren't tired.
"Anyone wanna go and kick some demon ass?" Faith was desperate for some action after sitting around all day. All of the slayerettes jumped at the chance and Wesley offered to give them a guided tour of L.A's more popular demon hotspots. The others politely declined and Lorne went up to his room, sensing that Buffy and Angel needed to talk.
***************************************************************
Faith and Wesley led the slayers around the city, proving that they were a force to be reckoned with. Wesley was impressed, to say the least, and after several action filled hours, he found himself paying for a round of drinks.
The two adults went to the bar and it wasn't long before Wes found him self saying something that he felt he may regret later, but he had to say it anyway.
"I'm proud of you." He said quietly looking at his drink and not at the girl beside him.
"What was that?!" Faith cried, practically choking on her drink.
"Look, I know that I was a terrible Watcher, and I don't expect you to forgive me for that, but I just want you to know that as you Watcher, I am proud of you." She smiled humorlessly before responding,
"I think that I'm the one that doesn't deserve forgiveness Wes," she spoke so quietly and she couldn't even bring herself to look at him, so she kept her gaze fixed on a water mark on the bar.
"Maybe, but I forgave you a long time ago Faith." He spoke quietly, just like she had, but his tone was final. At this point Faith found the courage to look him in the eye, and when she did, she was surprised to see that his perfect blue eyes were not clouded by anger or contempt, and that he had meant what he said.
"Okay," she said a little bashfully, "now that that's out of the way, how about we get our drink on?" With that she grabbed half of the drinks and left the rest for him.
All in all, they had a good night, so good, in fact that they failed to notice that it was almost dawn by the time they had decided to return to the Hyperion.
"Do you know what your going to do now that Sunnydale's gone?" Wes asked Faith casually as they walked back to base camp. She shook her head in reply, staring thoughtfully at the rising sun.
"I don't know." She said, "I suppose as an escaped convict I don't have a lot of options." As they continued to walk, Wesley was thinking about ho he could help her, after all, helping people was his job, but then why did he feel the need to rationalize his willingness to do this for her in his head?
***************************************************************8
When they got back, Faith left to check on Robin, but she bumped into Angel on the way. It had often been said that Angel was ignorant when it came to feelings and emotions, but even he could tell that something was bothering her. So he asked he could talk and after only a moment's hesitation, she agreed and followed him into his room.
"So what's bothering you?"
"You want a list?" she asked sarcastically.
"Sure. "Jeez, she thought, the guy must have the patience of a saint if he wants to hear all my problems.
"Well firstly, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now, the guy I screwed in Sunnyhell is looking to have some kind of relationship with me, and Wesley said that he forgives me." She finished breathlessly, whilst pacing the room before throwing herself in the armchair a little theatrically.
"Okay, firstly, why should Wes forgiving you be a problem?" Although he thought he could probably answer that himself.
"I don't know, it just is," she said avoiding his eye and berating herself for letting it slip out in the first place.
"Is it because you can't forgive yourself?" she sighed.
"Maybe. It's just I can't help thinking that if I forgive myself then I might forget everything I did and I'll slip up and do it again" all of her fears were coming to light and for some reason she could talk to him without all of her usual bravado.
"Faith, Wes and the others, they told me everything you did to get me back. You're not the same person you were back then, you've grown up and your stronger now, and I don't think for one second that you'll let yourself do that again." Seeing that what he had said had eased her worries somewhat, he effortlessly shifted into an overprotective big brother role, "so who's this guy'? She couldn't help but laugh at his dramatic change in tone.
"His name's Robin. He was the principal at Sunnydale High." Angel nodded to show he knew who she was talking about.
"He seems like a nice guy." He said, trying to be encouraging.
"Yeah, he is,"
"Do you wanna try that with a little more enthusiasm?" he goaded, "how do you feel about him? Do you love him?"
"I don't even know what love is." She said it so emotionlessly that it almost broke his heart.
"At the risk of sounding clichéd, Faith, you'll know when it happens." She nodded and rose to leave.
"Thanks for the pep talk, Yoda"
"Hey Faith," he called as she was about to leave the room, "you know there's always a job for you here, right?" That made her smile. He decided that he liked it when she smiled.
Worn out from all the talking she decided to check on Robin and get a few hours of sleep. When she got to the room they were sharing she found him fast asleep, so she took of her boots an laid down beside him drifting into a dreamless sleep.