The Quickening

Notes: Review!!! Thanks.

Previously:

"You ready to go hit up Willy's?" Buffy asked, looking over at Faith.

Faith smiled and pulled herself to her feet. "Let's go."

Chapter Seven:

"So, Xander…you think he'll be okay?" Faith asked nonchalantly as she and Buffy walked down the street, heading toward Willy's bar. Buffy was skipping her homeroom period for their excursion, though she didn't look like she particularly minded skipping out on it. It seemed to Faith that it been years since she last sat in a classroom, though it hadn't been that long. In fact, she had dropped out of high school less than a year before. Shortly after she found out she was the slayer, she stopped going to classes because they interfered with her training. She had a purpose, a meaning to her life, and she wasn't going to waste it. Where she grew up, school didn't matter much in the grand scheme of things. Though Faith pretended that she wasn't as smart as everyone else was, she was actually quite intelligent and had been an exemplary student before she quit.

"You're really concerned about him aren't you?" Buffy asked in surprise.

"No," Faith said quickly. Buffy looked over at her dubiously. "Okay, maybe a little," Faith admitted. "It's just, I know what Kakistos is capable of. I don't want what happened to my Watcher to happen to him."

"I thought your Watcher was on retreat," Buffy said, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. Faith mentally kicked herself.

"Giles didn't tell you?" She asked. Giles had already known about her Watcher when she entered the library that morning. She had naturally assumed he would tell Buffy right away. Apparently, she was wrong.

"Tell me what," Buffy stated.

"Let's keep walking," Faith said, moving on. Buffy grabbed her by the arm and stopped her.

"Not until you tell me exactly what's going on. Obviously Giles has been keeping me out of the loop on some things. Understandable. But this involves one of my best friends, so you're going to tell me everything right now," Buffy demanded. Faith stood her ground, staring Buffy in the eyes. She hated when people tried to tell her what to do.

"Or you'll what?" Faith drew out. Buffy looked at her sharply.

"Do you really want to go there?" Buffy asked.

"In case you didn't notice, this isn't about you," Faith said. "It's about Xander. Not the fact that your precious feelings got hurt because Giles chose not to be your little bitch this time around." Before Faith knew what hit her, Buffy had slapped her across the face. She could feel the sting of the older slayer's hand burning in her cheek. Reaching up, Faith gingerly touched the spot of impact. Then she smiled. "Nice shot," she sneered before turning on her heel and continuing down the sidewalk.

"Don't walk away from me, Faith!" Buffy yelled after her. Faith turned back, her face a portrait of calm.

"How about you try to keep up? We have things to do," she replied. She started walking again, but smiled. She could almost see Buffy stomping her feet angrily, trying to decide whether to follow after her. Finally, she heard the older slayer's footsteps behind her and Buffy caught up to her, matching her pace.

"We're going to talk about this later," Buffy said moodily.

"Whatever you say," Faith replied. "This the place?" She asked, looking up at the sign above the bar.

"Yeah," Buffy replied. "It does say Willy's after all."

"Well, isn't someone in a snit," Faith responded. Buffy turned back to her menacingly. Faith threw up her hands in a gesture of peace. "After you," she said smiling as Buffy stomped through the door.

"Willy," she heard Buffy say as she entered the bar. It was dark inside, smoky, like most bars, and a foul stench arose from the various clientele seated around the place. Faith noticed at once that they were all demons.

"Hey," she said, catching Buffy's arm and whispering to her. "This is a demon bar?"

"Yeah," Buffy replied.

"Why haven't you gotten rid of it? Isn't this like a menace to society?" Faith asked.

"Aren't you?" Buffy sarcastically replied. Faith rolled her eyes. "As much as I hate this place, it does us more good being here. Willy is often a vital source of information," she said loudly enough for Willy to hear. "Aren't you Willy?"

"Hey, girls," Willy said nervously. "You must be the new slayer, huh? Prettier than the last one, I mean, she was hot. Don't get me wrong. Had that exotic thing going on," Willy rambled.

"Do you have a point?" Faith asked angrily.

"Not so much," Willy replied.

"We need some information," Buffy said, getting back to point. "I'm gonna ask nicely just this once. After that, there's gonna to be lots of pain. Can you guess who's gonna be feeling it?"

"Probably me," Willy said, wiping his hands with a bar towel. "Let's go in the back, yeah?" Turning, he motioned for them to follow. Buffy and Faith both looked at each other before walking after him.

"Don't want the customers do know you're a little snitch?" Faith asked.

"Oh, they already know that," Willy replied. "No use rubbin' it in their faces, know what I mean?"

"Kakistos," Buffy said. "We need to know where he's staying."

"Whoa, you don't want to mess with that guy. You may be the slayer and all – well, you both – but he's one tough son of a bitch, that one," Willy replied.

"We already know that," Faith interrupted. "Just tell us where he's staying or I'll have to start breakin' things."

"Fine, fine," Willy replied, somewhat reluctantly. "He's in this warehouse, couple blocks up from the Sunnydale Motor Lodge. Big, abandoned place. You can't miss it, really. That's all I know."

"Think he's telling the truth?" Faith asked Buffy. Buffy looked at him fidgeting for a moment before nodding.

"Thanks, Willy. Love what you've done with the place," Buffy said. Then she and Faith walked out, heading toward the front door. They both breathed a sigh of relief once they were out in the fresh, afternoon air.

"That place gives me the creeps," Faith said suddenly. "I felt like a live wire in there."

"Slayer senses going off the charts?" Buffy asked. "I know what you mean. Being in a room full of demons, kinda makes you want to get all violent."

"Yeah, something like that," Faith replied. "So what's the plan?"

"The plan? Go back and tell Giles what Willy told us," Buffy responded.

"You're kidding, right? Why wait? Let's go do this now," Faith said. Though she was loath to see Kakistos again, she was worried what he might be doing to Xander. She knew that every second they wasted Xander was one second closer to potential death. Even though she and Xander weren't particularly close, the thought of having an actual friend for once in her life was appealing. She didn't want to lose that chance.

"No way in hell," Buffy said sternly. "Look, if this Kakistos guy is anything that Giles made him out to be, we're gonna need backup."

"From who? Willow? Oz? What are they gonna do, Buffy?" Faith asked in frustration.

"This is how we do things here," Buffy said. "If you want in, than you follow the rules. Otherwise, you might as well just go back to Boston."

Faith watched as Buffy walked away, heading back to the high school to report to Giles. Even though every ounce of her being was telling her to go the opposite direction and save Xander, she reluctantly followed after the older slayer. Buffy was right; if she wanted to be part of the group, she would have to make some compromises. She had never been much of a team player and rules hadn't held much sway for her. But when she looked at Buffy and her friends, she felt a pang of jealousy spark in her heart. She wanted what they had and if she could get it by doing things Buffy's way some of the time, she'd make a few concessions. "Alright," she said, walking after her. "We'll do things your way this time around."