A Little Bit Of Faith

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a new digital camera.

Summary: Spike's spooked, Giles is searching and Willow's getting wigged.

Reviews: Yes, please. Crave reviews, adore reviewers. Readers Rock but Reviewers RULE!

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Spike stared in bewilderment at the pretty girl who'd joined him. His senses told him she was a slayer but she was making no move to do him any damage. He lit a cigarette and let the curling smoke create a barrier between them. He watched her carefully.

Faith smirked at his smokescreen. She reached across to the pack he'd left sitting on the table and took it with his lighter. He watched as she tapped out a cigarette, lit it and returned both items. He raised his scarred eyebrow. She blew a smoke ring at him and tapped the ash into a dish.

"So, vampire. Tell me why you were out there doing my job tonight?" She purred.

Spike blinked at her. A small smile flitted across his handsome face. He shrugged.

"What? Too good to talk to a slayer? I'm Faith by the way, we met before but you wouldn't remember. I wasn't exactly…myself." Her dark chocolate eyes sparkled as she watched the confusion come and go in his expressive dark blue eyes. Faith let her gaze roam over his lean form. 'He's even hotter than I remember.' She thought.

"Okay, Blondie. What are you doing here? Cruising for your next victim?" She asked acidly. Irritated because he was refusing to talk to her.

Spike shook his head slowly, his eyes narrowed as he gazed through the smoke. He picked up the check that the waitress had delivered with the last beer and dug the amount out of his pocket. He added a healthy tip, something he usually never bothered to do, and stood up. He inclined his head toward the brunette and flicked up his scarred eyebrow again. With a small enigmatic smile he turned and left.

Faith sat where she was for a few minutes. 'What just happened here?' She wondered. Suddenly she shot up and raced for the door. She burst out into the street and turned in circles trying to figure out which direction the blond vampire had gone.

A few minutes later…

Clem jumped as the door slammed open. He turned from his movie to look at Spike. The panic on the blond's face had the peaceful demon leaping up to grab the paper and pen. He shoved the writing materials into the vampire's hands. Spike took them with shaking fingers and let his friend guide him over to the sofa. He clutched the pen tightly and scrawled a message hastily.

'Slayer. At the Bronze.' Spike wrote.

"Buffy was at the Bronze? Did she see you?" Clem asked worriedly.

Spike shook his head violently. 'Different slayer. Brunette. Name's Faith.' He dragged his hand through his hair before continuing with his writing. He took a deep unneeded breath. 'Was watching while I patrolled.'

Clem nodded. "I've heard of Faith. She's a bad one. She killed some dude. A human. Last I heard through the demon grapevine that she was in prison somewhere down by LA."

Spike's head dropped. He looked back up and resumed his hasty scribbling. 'Well, she's back. And she has me in her sights.'

"I'll do some asking around. See what I can find out." Clem assured him.

'Thanks, Mate. And thanks for the cash, had a good time til the slayer showed. Don't think I'll be going out again for a bit. She got a bit bitchy when I wouldn't talk to her.' Spike gave the tablet and pen back to Clem and stood up. He put a hand on his friend's shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze before pointing toward the trap door.

"Are you going to bed now?" Clem asked. Spike nodded as he walked to the entrance to the lower level. He suddenly felt exhausted. "I'll lock the door when I leave." Clem told him. The vampire smiled briefly and dropped out of sight. The floppy skinned demon turned off the television and cleaned up his snack debris. He'd installed a lock on the door to the crypt when the friends had realized that Buffy had been in while Spike was asleep. Fortunately, Spike had gotten in the habit of locking the trap door before going to bed. He got out his keys and locked the dead bolt before going home.

Spike stretched out on his bed. The encounter with the dark haired slayer had left him shaken and it pissed him off. He was the Slayer of Slayers. A Master Vampire. But for some reason, someone had stolen his voice and left him off balance. Speech was such a large part of his basic personality that he was adrift without it.

Spike tried, as he had every night since he'd been struck silent, to make a sound. He pressed his head hard into the pillow, opened his mouth wide and tried to scream. His throat muscles strained as he beat his fist on the mattress if frustration. Furious tears rose in his eyes as he remained stubbornly mute. He rolled over in defeat as he closed his mouth. He fell asleep wondering how long it would be before his speechless state drove him completely mad.

The next day, Sunnydale Public Library…

Giles opened the door to the Sunnydale Public Library with trepidation. He was relieved to see shelves of books but he knew the shiny computers lined along one wall held the answers he needed. He approached the young lady at the information desk cautiously.

"Excuse me." He began quietly. "I was wondering if I could get some assistance." He held out the paper with the search he needed to do. The girl smiled at him and led the way to one of the computers. She sat down, turned it on and logged onto the Internet. She quickly found the website he needed. She gave him a brief tutorial on surfing the cyberspace and left him to it. He moved the mouse fractionally and breathed a small sigh of relief when the little pointer moved across the screen without any major catastrophe. He checked his notes and typed the first portion of the information he was looking for into the tiny search box. He breathed a sigh of relief. Moving the pointer over to the little button marked 'Search', he pushed the button on the mouse and promptly panicked when the screen went completely blank.

Summers house, Willow and Tara's room…

Willow stretched languorously. She'd felt Tara get up earlier to attend a class but the redhead had opted to sleep in a bit. She felt mellower than she had in a while. She yawned and grimaced when she realized she was very thirsty. She knew she'd forgotten to get her customary glass of water for her bedside table. She threw back the covers and rolled to sit up on the edge. Her eyes caught sight of the full glass of water sitting on the table. She grinned. Tara knew her so well. Draining the cool liquid quickly, she got up fully and wandered into the closet for clothes for the day. She had a specific sweater she wanted to wear and was annoyed when it wasn't hanging among her clothing. She pulled on her bathrobe and went downstairs to the kitchen for something to eat while she figured out what to wear instead.

The redheaded witch set her empty cereal bowl in the sink and went back upstairs. She still hadn't decided what she wanted to wear so she went back into the closet to go through her clothes for an acceptable substitute. Her jaw dropped as she gaped at the sweater she'd been looking for hanging right in the front of the closet.

At the library….

Giles pulled his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. He glared again at the screen and wondered for what felt like the millionth time what had possessed him to start this search. He reread his notes and remembered. He sighed and got up to go to the information desk yet again. He needed the current page printed. It had taken him over an hour to find the one he needed and had made three trips to the friendly young woman in the process. He knew he was smart but the bloody computer made him feel stupid. He wondered briefly if he would ever get the hang of it.

"I was hoping you would show me how to print something?" Rupert asked quietly. With a wide understanding smile she got up once more and printed the page.

"Thank you." He murmured with a grateful smile. Another hour later he had the second page he needed and because he'd carefully watched how she'd done it, managed to print that one himself. He sighed and relaxed fractionally. He clicked on the next page he needed and froze.

"Oh Dear Lord!"