Chapter 2: Playing it slow

"Faith!" The watcher rose for her place behind her desk as a sopping wet teenager walked in through the door of her home. Having been raised in a proper manner Angelica Hughes had at first frowned slightly upon her straightforward and sometimes gruff charge. For example the Faith didn't knock, she just walked in like she owned the place. An annoying quality at first that now just seemed endearing to the Watcher.

She couldn't imagine loosing Faith ever. Before being appointed a Slayer she'd hardly been able to wait to get one. Her fingers had been itching whilst she'd been planning strategies and training sessions.

But now the pleasure was bittersweet. The thrill of working closely with a powerful girl of Faith's nature was balanced out by the fear, and expectation, of one day loosing her. Cause that was the only thing Ms. Hughes knew for certain – one day Faith would die and her power would be passed on. And any day could be that day.

"Hey, Ms. H." Grinning widely the girl ridded herself of her wet jacket, not putting it on the coat rack but rather throwing it down in an armchair.

Ms. Hughes apartment was small but cozy. The living room that you walked straight into had a British cottage kind of feel with warm colors and many small lamps strategically placed out in the room. The kitchen, right next to it, had a horrible yellow shade from its previous owner, but was big enough for two. Ms. Hughes antique dining table was however a tad too big for it and forced you to squeeze between the edge of it and the sink to get to the fridge.

Across from the kitchen there was a bedroom Faith had never entered. In there Ms. Hughes kept the weaponry in a locked casket.

In between her kitchen and bedroom there was a big bathroom. Filled with all sorts of first aid kits for all cuts and bruises, even magical.

Faith huffed into the kitchen getting herself a soda and a bag of Olay's ruffled potato chips.

With her treasures in her hands she returned to the living room and her Watcher, slumping down in a green armchair.

"Are you alright? Did your patrol go well?"

"Sure. Got a bit of a throat burn though." Lifting her dark hair Faith showed the marks left after Lawyer vamps strong hand. Not one to fuss much Ms. Hughes inspected it on a closer range and nodded a bit.

"It should be gone soon. Are you injured elsewhere?"

Faith shook her head, stuffing a handful to chips in her mouth. "Nah," she opened her soda can and took a sip, "It's just this vamp – he said this thing, right – kinda made me wonder y'know."

"What did he say?" With curious eyes and ears Ms. Hughes seated herself by her desk again. Her full attention on her charge.

Faith shifted in her seat. "That – remember Tevorkian? – that he sent this vamp after me. But not to kill me, for me to kill him, so this third vamp guy could like check me out or whatever. I really didn't like either one of them."

"I hope neither of them will live to tell the tale."

Under her watcher's squirmed eyes Faith shifted again. It felt as if Ms. Hughes almost expected her to have failed.

"Of course. Beat 'em up, knocked 'em down and cut off some fingers in the process."

The last part was either missed or ignored by the Watcher who thoughtfully disappeared into her own mind.

"So he's studying you? That's most worrisome. One could presume he's testing you to see whether or not he wants to challenge you himself. Worrisome indeed. We already know Tevorkian wants control of south Boston. Could be he sees you as a stepping stone to respect and power."

Grumbling to herself Faith put her snacks away. Her appetite vanished as anger seethed inside of her. She wanted to face off with Tevorkian and ground his bones to dust. It pissed her off royally to think that he saw her as a 'means' in his quest for control of the undead.

"I don't think you ought to seek a confrontation with him." Ms. Hughes suddenly said as if she'd read Faith's mind. "Not before we know more of his motives."

The Slayer shrugged. "Motives? He wants me dead. What else is new?"

"Don't be flippant! We can only assume that he wants you dead, he could very well have other things in mind. Selling you as a toy to highest bidding vampire, torturing you, making you his mate. Fool's rush in, Faith. We will be prepared."

Making a face the teenager pushed herself up from her seat. Restlessly she paced the living room, punching her left fist into her right palm.

"Monster bride, not on my to-do list this week, so fine – we'll play it slow. What do I do till we figured something out? Sit around here and sip tea? You know that's not my thing."

"You'll patrol of course. Try and snoop around in Tevorkian's favorite hang out's."

Faith nodded, still beating her own palm. "Sounds good. I can do that." She glanced outside where the rain was still pouring. Sinking down into the green armchair again she showed her usual confident smile. "But not tonight. Three vamps and a brain-tease deserves me some down-time, don't you think?"

Ms. Hughes just smiled as she opened her diary. She knew she'd written some passages about Tevorkian earlier. Could clue them in to what he was planning.

Faith placed her hands behind her head and closed her eyes for some well deserved rest. "Mmm, I really love this gig." She mumbled before dozing off.

Affectionately Ms. Hughes stood and spread a blanket over her disheveled Slayer.

Caressing a strand of hair from Faith's face the Watcher smiled tragically.

"You love it too much." She whispered.