Part 14—And Now For Something Serious…

Faith stormed into the living room and ran right smack dab into the middle of what looked like a giggly Girl Scout meeting, minus the cookies and the green uniforms. Her entrance must've set off a mental red alert because all talking ceased as every girl fixed her with a wary look.

"Robin," she snapped.

Ruda hopped to her feet as the others exchanged knowing looks. "What would you like us to do?" the Slayer from the future volunteered.

"I want to know where he went." Faith fought to keep her temper in check.

"Probably where he always goes after sparring," Vi shrugged.

"Which is?" Jesus, how dense are these girls? Faith thought.

"The shower?" Vi ventured.

Faith gave a curt nod. "Right." As she made her way up the stairs she heard one of the girls giggle, "Someone's in deep shit now."

The furious Slayer made it to the second floor bathroom and quickly ascertained that her target hadn't even made it yet. She stomped to the bedroom she shared with Robin and flung open the door just in time to see him wrap a bathrobe around him.

He jumped and spun around, the robe falling open. Under normal circumstances, Faith would've been giving Robin an appreciative snarl, however, she was seeing so much red that the fact that Robin was letting it all hang out didn't even register.

On seeing Faith standing in the doorway, he clutched his heart and sagged. "Don't do that. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"What the hell did I see down there?" Faith demanded.

"Faith, for heaven's sake, I'm naked under the robe," Robin said as he gathered the terrycloth around him.

"What? Like I haven't seen it all before now?"

"The door, Faith. You may have seen it all, but not everyone has."

Faith stepped into the room and tried not to slam the door shut. "I'm asking you one more time: What the hell was I seeing down there?"

"A teaching moment."

"You mean a goddamn sucker punch. What's next? Beat downs for all? Or is it only for the special few who get mouthy with you?"

Robin sighed and closed his eyes. "I lost my temper," he admitted.

"Lost your temper." Faith could feel her jaw tighten. "Do you always hit people when you get mad at them? I'd like to know because, for the record, you hit me like that? You are going down."

"I'm not proud of what just happened." Robin clenched his jaw as if just saying it physically hurt. "But to hear Xander just dismiss…"

"Xander didn't dismiss shit. You were just waiting to lay down a 'teaching moment.'"

"Did you even listen to him, Faith? He basically said that he's only sticking around until something better comes along."

Faith threw up her hands. "That was Xander just talking shit, just like he always talks shit. He doesn't mean a fucking word of it, no matter how much he wants to believe he does. Jesus. If he was gonna take a hike, he sure as hell wouldn't be training his ass off and doing all the heavy lifting he's doing around here. Scratch that: If Xander were even capable of walking away, he would've taken a powder looooong before you met him."

Robin face collapsed into a thoughtful frown. "Why are you defending him?"

"I'm not defending him," Faith said. "What I'm pissed about is I just saw me a Grade-A case of schoolyard bullying. And don't give me that bullshit that his smartass mouth pissed you the hell off. I saw you hiding on his blindside and sneaking up on him when his guard was down. You were looking to throw that punch. Now, maybe in your world he was asking for it, but that response? Who the fuck do you think you are? Judge Judy?"

Robin's expression hardened. "The fact is, Xander is blind to his left and he cannot let his guard down for one moment if he wants to continue patrolling and fighting."

"Which is where you are supposed to fit in. You are supposed to help bring his fighting skills up to your damn standards, which means you fucking teach him how to compensate, not demonstrate the fact you can play hide-and-smackdown," Faith snarled. "Jesus. I had a grand total of less than one year between two Watchers and even I know that."

"What is this all about? Really?"

Faith took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts. The fact is she really did want to give her-and-Robin a try, but what she just witnessed in the basement put a capper on a lot of things that had been bothering her about the Robin half of the equation in the past few weeks. "Look, I understand that you feel that we need a strong leader-type to kick the new Slayer party off the ground. I get it. I do. But you're beginning to slip into Bitchy Buffy mode and that's not too cool."

"Excuse me?" Robin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"C'mon. This is me here. Not only have I seen you naked and know you always announce when you're going to cum, I've also listened to you bitch about everyone in this house."

"I do not bitch…"

"What have you said? Wait, wait, let me see," Faith said as she dreamily tapped a forefinger against her chin. "Buffy's shirking her duties because she wants to kick back and take it a little easy; Giles doesn't know how to reign in all his little Scoobies and keep them focused; Kennedy needs to be reminded that just because she's screwing Willow doesn't mean she's better than anyone else; Willow needs to get a goddamn job; Andrew needs to wake up and smell the reality; Dawn's turned into a typical high school airhead; and Xander? Well the list of his problems is longer than my goddamn arm."

"I don't put it like that."

"And I'm not sayin' that some of what you're saying ain't legit, because it is, but the 'tude of 'my way or the highway'? Is not winning you any friends around here."

"This is not about making nice, this is about the mission…"

"And what mission would that be? Pissing on people if they don't toe the line? Because, I gotta tell ya, when Buffy went Heil Fuhrer like that and pushed everyone to the breaking point, she got her ass tossed out of her own goddamn house."

"Even though it turned out she was right all along," Robin quietly countered.

That stopped Faith and she felt the anger drain from her body. "Don't tell me you're feeling guilty about…"

"A little. Maybe," Robin admitted. "Maybe if we listened to her, we would've moved sooner and Anya and some of the Potentials would still be alive."

"And Spike."

"Fuck Spike. He was a murdering prick and I'm sure he's enjoying his stay in hell," Robin snarled.

Faith felt like she'd been slapped. "I'm a murder, too. Should I be feeling the flames?"

"What? No. Of course not," Robin said as he moved to embrace Faith. He tried not to act hurt when she shook him off. "What you did was a very different thing than Spike's orgies of…"

"What you mean is that I didn't kill your mother so we're cool," Faith said.

"That's not…"

"Except the people I killed had families and friends, right? So maybe they should get in a few licks to teach me a lesson."

"You're human. And Spike was a vampire. Two different things."

"Personally, I'm with you on Spike being a prick, but he did right in the end and there's no getting around that. Besides, what you did back in the Dale wasn't exactly on the up-and-up either." Faith tossed up her hands when it looked like Robin was about to argue the point. "I'm not getting into it right now. The thing is, you've got to lay off the power tripping. Lately, it just seems like no one can do anything right. You act like you're the only one who really understands just how fucking long the odds are for those new Slayers wailing in the dark. Never mind that almost everyone in this house has just lost every-fucking-thing they ever had, including people they cared about. We've all hit the ground running when we finally landed in Cleveland and we've been running without a damn break. We are all tired. Every one of us."

Robin flinched. "Have you been talking to Xander?"

"About what? Your shitty attitude? Nope. Xander doesn't do the gossip deal. This conversation is strictly between you and me."

"My shitty attitude," he deadpanned.

"Look, I get that we've got a lot of work to do. Hell, everyone in the damn house gets that we have a lot of work to do. But lay off the 'Everyone-Sucks-But-Me' act. It was old when B pulled that shit back in Sunnydale and it's not getting any better just because it's spouting out of your mouth."

"So, you think I should just kick back and let events take their course?" Robin sounded defeated. "Do you know how many Slayers may wind up dead for every day we delay? The clock is ticking on their lives, Faith. If we don't find them, if we don't at least tell them we're here to teach them, the consequences will be catastrophic and it's all on our heads. You've got to see that."

"We're talking in circles and this is getting nowhere. I keep telling you that we all see it and it's like you're not even hearing me." Faith shook her head. "Look, all I'm asking you is to make some allowances, you know, give the people around here a chance to do what they do without you constantly reminding them how fucking dire the situation is."

"Yeah, well, if Xander's flippant attitude about what we do is any indication of the popular opinion in this house, maybe you all need someone to remind you of that," Robin said as he snatched at his towels.

Whoa. Flippant attitude? Maybe I misread the situation. This could be a something that's been going on for awhile and Robin could've just been pushed too far, Faith thought. Then again, Xander may be big on the flip comments, but judging by the conversation she had with Xander yesterday, he was definitely taking a good, long, hard look at where he stood post-Sunnydale and, if anything, probably agreed with Robin that he wasn't up to snuff.

"That's just Xander's way of dealing," Faith heard herself saying. "Just ignore what comes out of his mouth, take a look at what he's doing or trying to do, and you might change your mind. Besides, alienating Xander isn't the smartest thing you've ever done."

"Because he's got Buffy's ear?"

"No, because he's been with Buffy, Giles, and Willow a hell of a lot longer than you have. Plus, Kennedy digs his shit because he saved her ass from Caleb, Andrew's got a serious man-crush on him, and I've noticed he's one of the few people around here actually talking to the new Slayers instead of at them, so, in short, he's likeable. You? Right now? Not so much."

"You're afraid he's going to paint me as the Big Bad Wolf in some popularity contest?"

"Xander won't paint you as any fucking thing, but if the others see you treating him like he's an idiot? That is not going to go over well." A thought struck Faith. She debated half a heartbeat before adding, "Plus, we got a houseful of people who claim to be from the future who practically worship him, so I'd say doing what you did in front Catherine of all people makes you look like the bad guy twice over. Be glad Ruda didn't see it."

"I'm supposed to let that affect…"

"Just apologize to him, already. Be the big man in the house, explain that you think he's being ass, that you lost your temper, and that you're sorry for letting the fist do the talking. Do it for the team, right? Because if the team ain't good, the mission's gonna fail."

Robin let out a huff of breath. "Okay, fine. When we get through this whole mess with our mysterious visitors…fine…I'll apologize."

"Make sure you do. Because if you two start going at it, someone is going to wind up with a knife in the gut."

Robin stepped back in shock. "Are you threatening me?"

Faith, for her part, was stunned. She had no idea where that remark came from. "N-n-no. Just that…high pressure, lots of tension…I don't want to see either one of you turning on the other. That's all."

Anger was now creeping into Robin's features. "I don't think it'll get that bad. I can't believe you think so little of me."

Faith felt utterly numb. "I don't…look…said my peace so…" Her voice trailed off as she robotically turned, left the room and Robin without a word, drifted down the hallway, and out of the house. Once she made it to the backyard, she allowed her knees to give out, and she sagged against the brick façade as a hand clutched the scar on her stomach.

TBC…