The Quickening

Previously:

"Ready?" Giles asked, looking over at her. Faith took one last look at the motel before nodding.

"Yeah, let's go home."

Chapter Fifteen:

Xander sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he stood in front of the vending machine outside of the school cafeteria, debating whether to spend his hard-earned dollar on a Pepsi or a Dr. Pepper. The school day had just ended and he had successfully failed two quizzes, thus cementing his reputation as a C student without a chance at a future in higher education. While the thought should have disappointed him, he had resigned himself to the fact that he wasn't the college type. Instead, he imagined that after high school, he'd just embark on a career in whatever labor field he could find gainful employment. Besides, he thought he'd look fairly good in a hard hat.

Sliding his dollar into the vending machine, he punched the Dr. Pepper button. The machine bumped and rattled a moment before the can of soda appeared. Reaching down, Xander picked it up and popped open the lid. The soda fizzed for a moment before dying down. Xander was debating whether to go to the library to watch Faith and Buffy train. However, he wasn't sure if Faith would be angry that he had sent Giles to the motel the night before to change her living arrangements. Faith hadn't been in the library that morning when he arrived, but Giles told him that Faith had moved in with him and was adjusting as well as could be imagined.

Instead of making her arrive early to train, Giles had let Faith sleep in, citing her need to get used to her new home. Xander, however, thought that now that Faith was going to be living with him, Giles didn't want to push her too hard. The last thing Giles needed was an angry teenage girl in his apartment. Xander chuckled a bit at the thought and took a drink of his soda. Giles seemed to think that Faith was happy with their new arrangement. However, Xander was afraid that Faith would think he had violated her trust by telling Giles what he knew of her life. If there was one thing Xander definitively knew, it was that angering a slayer never ended well.

"Xander," Cordelia said, coming up behind him. Xander turned at the sound of her voice and smiled slightly.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked, shifting his book bag.

"Have a minute?" Cordelia asked. "I think we need to talk." Xander looked at her carefully before responding. She didn't look happy to see him.

"Yeah, let's go somewhere else," Xander said, motioning for her to continue walking. Cordelia, however, remained rooted in her spot.

"No, I think here is fine," Cordelia said a little louder, effectively capturing the attention of everyone in the room. "You're a pathetic piece of shit, you know that Xander Harris?" She practically yelled. Xander could feel his face start to flush from embarrassment and confusion.

"Cor, what are you doing?" He asked, his voice low.

"What am I doing? Yeah, I should have asked myself that question a long time ago – right when I decided to give up everything important in my life for you. But my question is what the hell are you doing?" She growled out, stepping forward and lowering her voice. "I saw you walking with that bitch on Saturday morning, holding her hand like you were dating or something. So that's it, huh? A hot piece of ass comes to town and all of the sudden you forget about everyone else in your life?"

"It's not like that," Xander retorted.

"Save it. I'm officially over giving a shit about what you have to say anymore. We're done," she announced loudly again. Then, grabbing his soda out of his hand, she dumped it on the front of his shirt. "Go to hell," she said menacingly before stomping off. The room immediately erupted into the sound of excited voices discussing the latest gossip. Xander looked down at his shirt and fruitlessly dried to wipe the soda off.

"Damn," he muttered to himself. Looking around the room, he could feel everyone's eyes on him and it made him incredibly uncomfortable. Lowering his head, he walked out as quickly as he could, disappearing into the hallway with the rest of the students.

…………………….

Faith blocked one of Buffy's punches and tried to sweep the older slayer's feet out from under her. Buffy, anticipating the move, side stepped her and brought her elbow down on the back of Faith's head. "Ow," Faith muttered, staggering to her feet and turning to face the blonde slayer.

"Your head's not in the game," Buffy admonished.

"So, I've got a lot on my mind," Faith spat back. Buffy was being hypocritical and Faith knew it. The older slayer had been completely distracted during all of their patrols, constantly checking her watch and jumping back and forth on her feet like she couldn't wait to go home – or somewhere else. Faith was curious, but she didn't particularly care what Buffy did in her spare time, so long as it didn't effect their slaying. Now, however, Faith was having one off day and Buffy was berating her like she was some high and mighty warrior.

"You can't let whatever's going on in your head affect your fighting, Faith. Like I said before, number one rule of slaying is don't get dead. If you're distracted, you'll get dead," Buffy replied.

"Really? I hadn't figured that one out yet," Faith shot back. Giles appeared out of his office at that moment.

"I think a break is in order, yes?" He asked, sensing the tension in the room. He knew that training two slayers at one time would be difficult. Both girls were incredibly headstrong and both were confident in their abilities. By training together, the two slayers seemed to be constantly engaging in a competition of sorts. Giles got the impression that neither Buffy nor Faith particularly liked to lose.

"Sounds good," Buffy said cheerfully, almost immediately forgetting what she and Faith had been talking about. Faith frowned and looked down at her shoes, willing herself not to launch an attack at the girl as she turned her back. She hated being blown off; it reminded her of all of the times her mother had forgotten about her, or walked out on her without a clue that she was even there. "In fact, I think we're done here, right?" Buffy asked, looking back at Faith. Faith simply shrugged. "I was hoping to jet early, I've got some homework."

"That's fine," Giles replied, smiling his goodbye as Buffy packed her things.

"Tomorrow?" Buffy said as she walked about of the library.

"You did well today," Giles commented when he and Faith were alone.

"Not according to her," Faith replied bitterly. Giles smiled softly.

"Buffy is still getting used to having another slayer in town," Giles replied. "Kendra wasn't here long enough for Buffy to have to share her duties for any extended period of time. Though she may complain about being a slayer, once that identity is threatened, she tends to become fiercely protective of it."

Faith smiled a little, noticing that Giles called Buffy 'a slayer' instead of 'the slayer.' When she had first arrived in town, everyone always referred to Buffy as 'the slayer,' almost as if Faith didn't even exist, like she was a mistake. She understood what Giles was saying, however, about being protective of her identity. Faith was the same way; that was why being thought of as the second string slayer bothered her so much. Being a slayer was her destiny, her fate, not anyone else's. Even though Buffy had the same birthright, they were two different people with two different ways of doing things. They could both be slayers at the same time without having to compete over who was better, if only the rest of the Scooby Gang could understand that the 'one girl in the whole world' speech was a bit outdated.

"I get that," Faith finally said. Giles nodded.

"Just give her a chance, I think you'll find you have a lot in common," Giles said, then amended off the look Faith shot him, "well, at least some things in common."

"I guess," Faith replied. "I'm gonna head back, if you don't need me to stick around."

"I think we're finished. I'll see you soon then. Oh, and I'll have dinner waiting when you get back from patrol tonight," Giles said, knowing he had done the right thing by inviting Faith to live with him when she smiled a little and nodded.

"Sure thing, G-man. See ya," she said, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder as she exited the library. She was disappointed to find the hallway empty. She had hoped that Xander would come to the library after school. However, she didn't know why he would, after all, he was dating Cordelia, not her. She couldn't help but feel down as she left the school, even though reason clearly suggested that she was making too much out of the little things Xander had done for her.

Pushing open the school doors, she squinted as the afternoon sun pierced her eyes. It would only be a few hours until the sun went down and she would have to patrol. Already she could feel the slayer in her starting to stir, awaiting its chance to rip loose. "Hey," a voice said to her left, interrupting her thoughts. Faith looked over and saw Xander leaning against the side of the building.

"Hey," she replied, suddenly finding herself smiling. "What're you doing here?"

Xander shrugged and stepped forward, falling in line with Faith as she began to walk. "Thought I'd wait, see if you wanted company walking home," he said.

"Ah, yes, home," Faith replied, "which is now different from when we last talked."

"Yeah, about that," Xander said, looking over at her. "I hope you're not pissed that I talked to Giles about the motel."

"I'm not," Faith said, much to Xander's relief. "I'm glad you did. Giles' apartment may smell like tea bags and old books, but it's better than the Sunnydale Motor Lodge by a long shot."

"I'm glad you like it," Xander said, smiling over at her.

"Me too," Faith replied. Xander smiled as they fell into a comfortable rhythm of walking and talking. As Faith was filling him in on the details of her latest patrol, he couldn't help but think that he had never been as comfortable with Cordelia as he was with Faith. When he was with Cordelia, it was like he was constantly trying to measure up to some invisible goal that he never quite understood. However, Faith seemed to understand him, and despite his lack of knowledge about her past, Xander thought he understood her as well. He smiled a little, imagining that he should have been feeling depressed about being dumped not even an hour ago, yet, as he walked with Faith, his heart seemed light and free.