The Quickening

Notes: Life really gets in the way sometimes. Thanks for the reviews.

Previously:

Xander leaned down and kissed the top of Faith's head. "Merry Christmas," he whispered. Faith smiled and leaned back into his embrace.

"You too."

Chapter Thirty-Five:

Faith sighed and lit up a cigarette as she sat on the bleachers by the football field. The grass was a sea of perfect green that reminded her of the lawns of the houses in the rich part of Boston. She used to like to get on the bus at the far end of the city and ride it through its entire route, from downtown with the big skyscrapers that stood as steel monuments reflecting in the sunlight, to the historic district where people did so many great things back in the days where one person could change the course of history, to the neatly kept mansions at the edge of the city where the doctors and lawyers lived. Faith would sit in the back of the bus while the driver sat and ate his lunch up front and she would stare at the houses in awe, wondering at how people could live in such luxury when her mother could not even afford to heat their apartment.

Then the bus would ride back down the line, dropping her off at the end, in the section of the city where those rich people in their multi-million dollar houses never dared to step foot. The grass on the football field reminded her of the grass in front of those houses. It seemed that the rich people in Boston spared no expense to make sure that their lawns stayed perfectly green all year, even in the harsh months of winter when everything else was brown and dead. Taking a drag off her cigarette, Faith looked up into the sky. It was a perfect California day. It was amazing to think that just a few days before, it had been snowing in Sunnydale. Now, however, it felt almost like a spring day. It was pleasantly warm outside and the sun was shining down, draping a golden haze on everything within reach.

The school day had just ended a few minutes ago and the cheerleaders were assembled on the football field, warming up for practice. Apparently, there was a big game that night. The entire school had been in chaos that day as a result of it. Anybody who cared about the football team knew that their biggest rivals were coming to town to play. Faith could not have cared less about it though. She was not sitting out on the bleachers as some act of school pride, instead, she was sitting out there just to get away from everyone, mostly the Scoobies.

Willow was acting colder than ever. Every time Faith would look her way, the Wicca in training would be glaring at her mercilessly. If looks could kill, Faith would have been dead a long time ago by the way Willow was shooting her daggers. Faith could not figure out what was wrong. She knew that Willow was threatened by her attitude. Willow was a rather quiet individual, who had liked the way things had been before Faith showed up, when Buffy and Xander had given her all of their attention. Now, however, Buffy was preoccupied slaying with Faith and with her problems with Angel. She knew that Xander had not been hanging out with his best friend very often recently either, as he spent most of his free time with her. However, though she thought that she should feel guilty, she did not care that Willow was threatened by her. She was happy finally to have a friend to be with in Buffy, though she did not always get along with her sister slayer, and a boyfriend in Xander.

It was still strange for Faith to think of Xander as her boyfriend. She had never had a boyfriend prior to him. She smiled a little when she thought of him. He was the only guy who ever treated her nicely. The other guys she had been with had made very clear what they wanted from Faith. She knew that they wanted nothing more than the obvious, but with Xander, she knew things were different. He obviously wanted her, but he also cared about her. When he touched her, she could feel it. His touches were not the empty touches of her previous lovers – hurried and cold. His hands would linger on her skin and she could feel the warmth of his fingertips.

"Hey," a voice said, breaking Faith out of her thoughts.

"Hey," Faith said, turning to see Cordelia walking up the bleachers towards her.

"Mind if I bum one?" Cordy said, motioning to the cigarette in Faith's hand.

"Knock yourself out," Faith replied, handing her the pack of cigarettes and her lighter. "Didn't know you smoked."

"I guess there's a lot we don't know about each other," Cordy replied pointedly. Faith chuckled a little.

"Yeah, I guess so," Faith agreed. "So what are you doing up here anyway? Shouldn't you be down there with the rest of the cheerleaders, doin' your thing?"

"Probably," Cordy answered. "But to be honest, they won't miss me. It's not like any of them give a shit if I'm there or not."

"I thought they were your friends," Faith responded. Cordy snorted.

"The only real friends I've ever had were the Scoobies and they didn't even really like me most of the time. Those people down there are just leeches. They cling to whatever's hot for the moment, whatever people love, and they suck it dry to get everything they can from it," Cordy replied disgustedly.

"So why do you hang out with them?" Faith asked.

"Who else am I gonna hang out with?" Cordy retorted.

"I'm not doing anything," Faith replied, looking over at her. Cordy smiled a little.

"What're you saying?" She asked, not quite sure what to make of the dark haired slayer.

"I'm saying that I don't particularly feel like having Buffy kick my ass in training today and it seems like you don't particularly feel like throwing your pompoms around. Let's get out of here, do something fun," Faith answered.

"Seriously?" Cordy asked, intrigued by the possibility of getting to know Faith a bit better and by the idea of blowing off her responsibilities.

"Absolutely, what do you say?" Faith asked, looking over at her with a gleam of excitement in her chocolate eyes. Cordy smiled and nodded.

"Hell yeah," she replied enthusiastically. "Let's go."

………………………….

"Where the hell is she?" Buffy growled in frustration. "She was supposed to be here like hours ago. It's getting dark out."

"Something must have come up," Giles replied, looking over at the clock on the wall. "Although, it is unlike her to blow off her responsibilities without telling us."

"Really?" Willow asked, looking up from her books. "I thought that was her thing."

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked, looking over at her.

"Faith is like the epitome of responsibility blowage. She's all about the fun, not the work. Or am I the only person who pays attention to what she actually does around here?" Willow asked.

"Lay off it, Will," Xander replied. "She does a lot."

"Like what?" Willow shot back. "Other than making out with you all the time?"

"Slays every night for one," Xander responded. "What's your problem anyway?"

"I don't have a problem," Willow said pleasantly.

"Really? Because it seems like you're always ragging on Faith and I can't see why," Xander said.

"Maybe she's just jealous," Cordelia said smugly as she and Faith walked into the library. "Suffering from a bit of the green eyed monster, Will?"

"What is she doing here?" Willow asked bitterly, watching as Cordelia sauntered into the library with Faith at her side.

"I want her here, Red," Faith replied coolly.

"So what, the two of you are like friends now?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Is that a problem?" Faith asked.

"No," Xander said, flashing Faith a crooked grin. "It's not. Cordelia's hung out with us before, helped us out a lot before, she should be here. Just don't bitch me out again in front of the entire school huh?" Xander said, smiling at Cordelia as she reddened and looked down at her shoes.

"Yeah, about that," Cordelia started to say.

"Don't even tell me that Cordelia Chase is about to apologize," Willow said caustically.

"Can I hit her now or do you want to?" Cordelia muttered over to Faith, who grinned. "All I'm saying, is I shouldn't have done it like that, okay?"

"I get it," Xander said.

"Why are you being so nice to her?" Willow asked, looking over at him.

Xander sighed. "What's the point in harboring a grudge, Will? It doesn't do anyone any good. Besides, in all honesty, we need the help around here. And so long as Faith and Cordy are hanging out, we've got an extra set of hands."

"That's a good point," Giles replied, choosing that moment to chime in. "You're a bit late for training," Giles said, looking over at Faith pointedly. Faith nodded.

"Yeah, sorry about that. We lost track of time," she said. Giles smiled.

"Well, I don't suppose it will be the end of the world," he replied.

"Thanks, G-man," Faith said. Giles knew that Faith had intentionally blown off training by the guilty look in her eyes. Though Faith liked to think that she could lie well, she most definitely could not. However, Giles thought it was important that Faith expand her social circle. Even though Cordelia was not the most reliable person in the world, he knew that the cheerleader had a good heart. She chose to hide it most of the time, but nonetheless, it was still there. Eventually, Faith would learn that she could be honest with Giles. However, Faith was still in the habit of lying to placate everyone in her life. He imagined that she had lied to her mother very often to keep from being beaten for doing things that normal kids were often allowed to do.

"So what's the plan for tonight?" Xander asked, looking at everyone.

"Nothing major seems to be happening," Giles replied. "You can all go if you want."

"Anyone up for the football game?" Cordelia suggested hopefully. She hated to admit it, but she had missed hanging out with the Scoobies. Though she knew it would take a while for them to forgive her for hurting Xander, she hoped to be included once again, even if only on the outside like she had been before everything happened.

"I'm in," Buffy said, seeing the hopeful look in Cordelia's eyes. She had been very similar to the cheerleader back in Los Angeles and she knew that there was more to Cordelia than Cordelia liked to let on.

"Yeah, I've got nothing better to do," Faith said shrugging. "Xan?"

"If you're there, I'm there," he replied.

"Sounds cool," Oz said, piping up for the first time. Willow looked over at him surprised, but sighed, knowing that she would have to go as well.

"Why not," she replied, less than enthusiastically.

"Excellent," Cordelia replied, feeling, for perhaps the first time, that life could be more for her in Sunnydale than it had been. Faith looked over at her and smiled.

"Not so bad, are they?" She whispered.

Cordy smiled. "Could be worse."