The Quickening

Notes: Yay for snow. Thanks for the reviews.

Previously:

"Well, you did save my life tonight," Faith replied. "I guess I owe you one." Smiling, she turned and started walking down the street. "See you tomorrow, X," she called back. Xander smiled and touched his lips.

Chapter Ten:

Allan Finch stood outside of the Mayor's office with a folder in his hand. He had some interesting news – news that should have been delivered to the Mayor days ago. The Mayor always made Allan nervous, though he wasn't sure why. Richard Wilkins was a terrific boss to have. He was always polite and kind. However, there was something about him that just put Allan on edge. Taking a deep breath, Allan raised his hand, curled his fingers into a fist, and gently knocked on the Mayor's office door.

"Come in," he heard the Mayor's voice ring out pleasantly. Allan opened the door and shuffled nervously inside the office. However, he didn't see the Mayor anywhere when he looked around the room.

"Sir?" He asked, his voice seeming to ring out much louder than he expected.

"Allan," the Mayor said, stepping out of his private washroom, drying his hands.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, sir," Allan began clumsily.

"You haven't interrupted me, Allan. Please, go on," the Mayor said, walking around behind his desk and sitting down.

"Well, this probably should have been brought to your attention days ago, sir, but these individuals were spotted in town recently," Allan said, flipping open the folder and laying it on the desk before the Mayor. "Frederick and Hans Gruenstahler. Both are wanted in Germany for capital murder and terrorism, among other crimes. Like I said, I should have brought this to your attention days ago, but" –

"May I see your hands, Allan?" The Mayor asked as he sniffed several times. Allan stopped mid sentence and stared at him.

"I'm sorry. What?" Allan asked.

"May I see your hands?" The Mayor asked again politely. Allan nodded and nervously placed his hands palm down on the Mayor's desk. The Mayor leaned forward slowly and inspected his Deputy Mayor's hands. Allan shifted.

"They could be cleaner," the Mayor noted.

"Thank you, sir," Allan said, pulling his hands away. "I'll make sure to get on top of this right away," he finished, motioning to the file still lying on the desk. He walked out of the office and closed the door behind him, exhaling loudly. The Mayor pulled the file closer and began to read it. He already knew about the Gruenstahler brothers' arrival in Sunnydale. Mr. Trick had so graciously informed him about his Slayerfest plan to trap and kill the slayers. It would all begin very soon.

…………………………

Faith shoved her training clothes in her duffel bag and zipped it up. "See ya later, G," she said, slinging the bag over her shoulder. Giles poked his head out of his office.

"Right, tomorrow then," he said as she waved over her shoulder and pushed the library doors open. Faith had just finished training with Buffy. The work out had been good and Buffy had agreed to hang with Faith at the upcoming Homecoming dance. Faith wasn't entirely sure why she had asked Buffy if she wanted to go and hang out, but she had a vague notion as to her reasoning. She hadn't seen Xander since he saved her life and she kissed him outside of the school. It had only been two days, but she wanted to see him, though she wouldn't admit it to anyone. She hardly admitted it to herself.

Faith wasn't a school dance type of girl. But, she knew she would get to see Xander there, even if he was with Cordelia. Faith sighed, entirely disgusted with herself. She had never gone out of her way to be around a guy before. Usually, the guys would go out of their way, if only just to get into her pants. She could deal with that, but she couldn't deal with Xander constantly being on her mind. Faith pushed open the school's side exit doors and walked outside. The sun was shining brightly. The school day had ended a few minutes ago and students were milling about the campus aimlessly.

She had just reached the parking lot when she heard someone call out her name. "Faith!" Faith turned and looked back to see Xander jogging toward her.

"Déjà vu," she muttered to herself and shifted her bag on her shoulder. "What's up?" She asked when Xander slowed to a stop in front of her.

"Nothing," Xander said, smiling. "Just saw you walking, thought I'd say hey."

"Well, you said it," Faith said, turning. She started walking. However, she noticed this time, Xander didn't walk after her. Turning, she looked back at him.

"If you expect me to follow you around everywhere, it's not gonna happen," Xander said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I do that everyday with Cordelia."

"Are you even comparing me to Cordelia?" Faith asked incredulously.

"No," Xander said, laughing. "I'm not that cruel."

"Why do you stay with her if you hate her so much?" Faith asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"I don't hate her. She can be nice when she wants to be. When she is, she's a pretty cool person to hang around. I can't break up with her though. I mean, I'm Xander Harris, the loser of Sunnydale High," Xander explained.

"She wants to save face, she's gotta break up with you," Faith finished, finally understanding. Xander did care about Cordelia. Maybe even on some level he loved her, but he wasn't in love with her. He wanted what was best for Cordelia, even at the expense of himself, because he was a good friend.

"Exactly," Xander replied. "So I was gonna walk home. Cordy's doing all that Homecoming queen campaign crap. So I'm walking this way, if you wanna follow after me for a change," Xander said, smiling rather smugly.

Faith stared after him incredulously for several long seconds. She knew he would turn back, she just knew it. However, after several seconds, when Xander started to fade into the distance without even looking in any direction but straight ahead, Faith frowned. "Hey, wait up!" She called after him. Xander smiled and stopped walking. Once Faith had caught up with him, he started walking.

"So, you going to the dance?" Xander asked as they walked. He was expecting a negative reply, as Faith didn't really seem like the dance type.

"Yeah," Faith said shrugging absently. "Figured I'd go, see how you all party out here in Cali."

"Well, I think you'll be a bit disappointed," Xander said laughing. "Who're you going with?" Faith wasn't sure, but she thought she heard a hint of jealousy in his voice when he asked that question. But, there was also a hint of hope.

"Buffy, actually," Faith replied. "Scott ditched her this morning, so I thought we'd go and hang; check out the local male population. Hook her up maybe."

"How generous," Xander cracked.

"What can I say? I'm a giver," Faith retorted.

"And of course there's nothing self serving in that scenario," Xander replied.

"Well, what of it?" Faith asked, looking over at him.

"Nothing," Xander responded, a little too quickly.

"Right," Faith replied. "And that wouldn't bother you at all? If I found some random loser that goes to your school and screwed his brains out for the night?"

"Of course it would bother me," Xander replied, looking over at her.

"And why's that?" Faith asked. She hadn't noticed where they were walking until they stopped in front of Xander's house.

"Because you deserve better than that," Xander sincerely replied. Faith looked up at him, surprised. She hadn't been expecting that answer.

"Oh really? So what do I deserve?" Faith asked, a slight mocking tone in her voice. Xander chose to ignore it.

"You deserve someone who actually cares about whether you make it home alive at night. Someone who will pick you up when you can't do it yourself. Someone who will be there when you wake up," Xander replied.

"Yeah? Well maybe I don't want all that," Faith shot back.

"Maybe you don't. I could be wrong, but deep inside," Xander said, reaching forward and brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear, "I think you do."

Faith watched as he walked up the sidewalk and disappeared into his house. Turning, she ran a hand through her hair, letting it fall wildly around her shoulders. "Shit," she muttered to herself. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought she was falling for Xander Harris.