Faith stumbled out of bed around noon. She wasn't surprised to find that everyone else was up before her; Buffy, Willow, and Xander were all sitting at the old oak kitchen table. Xander was looking at the Tweety Bird clock hanging on the wall. "What?" she asked. "I was tired."
The sun shone fiercely, reflecting off the snow and the windowpanes, making the yellow kitchen even brighter. "Damn, remind me to get some breakfast shades," she said, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"Breakfast? Try lunch. It's afternoon already," Xander said.
"Leave her alone, Xander," Willow said. "We haven't been up that long ourselves."
Faith rolled her eyes and then noticed that everyone's coffees were resting on matching yellow Tweety Bird placemats; their butts parked on yellow Tweety Bird chair cushions that covered the matching oak chairs. "Is there anything in the kitchen that isn't yellow?"
"Just us," he said, grinning.
Faith smiled, looking at Willow. "I knew I couldn't have been that much behind you. You're all still in your jammies."
Faith realized that Giles was standing in the opposite doorway, sipping what she knew had to be tea, from yet another matching yellow mug, watching them all silently. A brief flicker of guilt passed through her when she realized that he was probably the only one who'd been up well before noon. "Well, except for you, G, who somehow, no matter what the occasion, always seems to be dressed," Faith said, pulling out a chair and sitting down at the kitchen table, averting her eyes from him.
"How'd you sleep?" Buffy asked.
Faith yawned. "Not bad, I guess. Dying for the java and a shower though. Can tell you that much," Faith replied, taking a big gulp of her coffee. "And I'm starving."
"So what is the plan for today anyway?" Xander asked, getting up and pouring himself another cup.
"Well," Giles began, "there's quite a bit actually. Emma will be here around 2:00 o'clock. That will leave plenty of time to get to know her prior to patrolling." Giles turned to Xander. "And you have an appointment."
Xander looked shocked. "What kind of appointment?"
Giles proceeded cautiously. "We, uh, we discussed it before you left for Sunnydale, the possibility of…"
"Oooh," Willow said. "Xander's getting his eye! He is, isn't he?"
Xander looked shocked. His hand shot up to his patch and for once, he didn't have a comeback.
Faith knew that he was having issues with the entire thing. The both of them did a lot of talking on the plane, but whenever the subject of his eye came up, Xander would mumble something and then change the subject. It took a lot of prodding, but Faith had finally gotten him to talk about it.
She about fell out of her seat on the plane when she realized that Xander was afraid.
"Dude," Faith told him. "Can't hurt any worse then it did when dickhead gouged it out in the first place. Besides, the pirate look, it's so over," she concluded, smiling and nudging him with her shoulder.
Faith had felt the relief wash over him. She believed that Xander had been hoarding this huge secret from everybody and then he just kind of unloaded it all on her… and he looked surprised that he actually survived the telling of it. After everything he had been through, the poor guy was afraid of the doctor. There was something ironic in there somewhere.
"Yes," Giles was saying, bringing her back to the present, "it took quite a bit of time, but Xander's medical records have been shipped here, and it is ready to be, well…"
"Installed?" Faith said, her eyes glinting as she took a sip of coffee.
"For lack of a better word, yes. Installed," Giles concluded. "But I believe I would have chosen a different one."
"Inserted works," Buffy added.
"Inserted makes me think of something entirely different B," Faith said, glad that Buffy was tagging along for the ride.
"Please!" Giles implored. "Let us not do this again."
Faith could see Xander's entire demeanor shift. "There's nothing we can do, Giles. It's a Faith thing," he said. "You kind of get used to it after awhile. It's all sex, sex, sex, sex. Not that there's anything wrong with that."
"Yeah, like you'd ever get used to this," Faith said, standing up and giving her hips a roll.
"Faith…" Giles began.
"I'm just saying," she said, sitting down and picking her coffee cup back up.
"With regards to you, Faith, your car should be delivered either today or tomorrow."
"Sweet. My Viper," Faith said, beaming. "Things are looking up. Too bad it's a convertible. Have I mentioned I hate winter?"
"If we're not here," Giles continued, barely keeping the exasperation out of his voice, "they will leave the car and place the keys in the box on the porch."
"The mailbox," Faith said, matter-of-factly.
"Yes, that box."
"Well, I guess we need to get moving," Buffy said, standing up. "There are three showers in this place and I'm counting four of us that still need one."
"If you say the last one in is a rotten…" Xander said.
"No worries, there'll be no eggs that are rotten," Buffy said. "I'm using the one upstairs. It's flowery and pretty... and the shower is a lot bigger than the other two." Using her slayer speed to unfair advantage, Buffy bolted out of the room and up the stairs.
"That means I get the one down here," Willow said. "It's not flowery, but it's not spidery like the one in the basement." She shuddered. "Yeah I know. Witch, spiders, but not when I'm in the shower and not when it feels like they're always looking at me." Willow followed Buffy's lead and ducked out.
"Guess we know where that leaves me," Xander said, standing. "If anyone calls me spider-boy…" He met their eyes, and then left the kitchen.
Faith was uncomfortably aware that only she and Giles were left in the kitchen. One on one time had never been big with the two of them, not when there were others always around. For being the one who always had something to say, she was suddenly speechless and that bugged her even more.
Giles was glancing at his cup as he swirled his tea around, his eyes never wandering in her direction. He slowly moved to the sink and placed his cup in it. Faith couldn't be sure, but he seemed to be as uncomfortable as she was.
She watched him out of the corner of her eye, not wanting to let on that she was actually spying on him. She wished he would just go somewhere, anywhere. She wanted more coffee, she was hungry, and some small part of her believed that if she didn't move, he wouldn't see her
So much for that plan.
"Faith, do you mind?" he asked, walking over to the table and indicating a previously vacated chair.
"Why would I mind?" she said, blurting out the first thing that came to mind, and then regretting it immediately.
"How are you?" he asked, joining her at the table.
Faith eyed him suspiciously. "Why do people keep asking me that?"
"You've been through a lot, Faith. It is only natural for people to be concerned as to how you're holding up."
"If I tell you I'm fine and mean it, can we not bring it up again?"
Giles was studying her face. What was he looking for? Would there be some sign that she was lying? No, there wouldn't be any sign, because she wasn't lying. "I'm okay. Seriously."
He sighed. "There are certain things I believe need to be said. This appears to be as good a time as any."
"If you're going to start lecturing me on my responsibilities…"
"No! Heavens no. Buffy expressed, well, to me at least, that you two have put your past behind you; that you both are starting anew. I just wanted to make my peace as well. There were situations that I could have, no should have, handled better. When you first came to Sunnydale being one of those times."
"Whoa," Faith said. "No need to dredge up ancient history, okay?"
It was as if he hadn't heard her.
"When I found out that your watcher had been killed, even after Wesley had shown up, I should have done more. With the council mess and then Wesley appearing unannounced, it all clouded my better judgment. Frankly, Faith, you should have been helped more and not been left alone in some dilapidated hotel room."
Faith was shocked. It wasn't like she was angelic back then. She'd made her share of mistakes, some of them huge and unforgivable, but Giles? It had taken her time to get over B's apology, accept it, and know that they had moved on. She had her suspicions that this Giles thing would take a lot longer to process.
"Giles," Faith said, more loudly this time. "Yo, I get it. It's fine. I just… well, thanks, but not necessary, okay?"
"It was necessary for me," Giles said. "Nevertheless, if you need anything, to talk, anything, you can come to me. I realize that your past experiences with watchers has been less than pleasant. I would like to change that. I'm here for you Faith."
And he meant it. Faith could see it in his eyes. "I promise. Honest," she said, holding up her right hand. "I swear and all that stuff."
"Good," he said, standing and squeezing her shoulder gently. "I will leave you and let you get something to eat."
"Thanks, Giles… and I mean it."
"Thank you, Faith."
XXXXX
By the time Faith had finished, it was 1:30. The closer it got to 2:00 o'clock, the more curious she got about the new slayer. Emma had been on the Detroit Hellmouth for over a year, alone, and she was still alive? Add shy and meek on top of that, how'd that happen?
After making her way downstairs and into the living room, Faith was surprised to find that Buffy was there alone, reading a magazine.
"Where is everybody?"
"Giles drove Xander to get his eye," she paused, looking up. "I'm sorry, but does that sound just wrong to you?"
"Um, yeah, a little bit."
"That's what I was thinking. Willow went along for moral support. Giles said we could get to know Emma on our own, the whole slayer-to-slayer-to-slayer thing. I had enough slayers, didn't I?" she asked, setting down her magazine and counting on her fingers.
Faith smiled. "Yep."
Faith walked over and plopped on the couch that was situated in front of the picture window. Peeling back the dark curtains, she glanced out. "Hey, look at all that snow."
"Faith," Buffy began, "you really, I mean really, need to get over this whole snow thing."
Faith glanced over her shoulder. "I'm sure I will, B. In like April or May." Faith turned towards the window again and smiled to herself. "But you can forget about the entire holy water part of your stash. Doesn't work very well when it's frozen."
Buffy laughed. "I never thought about that. See? Look at how helpful you are. You can teach us all how to slay in freezy goodness. What else?"
Faith turned around and looked at her. "You're serious?"
"Yep."
Faith thought about it for a moment. "Gotta be careful how you dress. If it's really cold and you layer, you know bundle up really good in a bunch of loose clothes, you won't be able to fight very well. You want to dress as light as you can, and as tight as you can, without freezing your ass off in the meantime. Oh, and find some good boots, ones that tie up really tight, with a good thick rubber sole on them. Nothing worse then losing a boot in a snow bank or falling on your ass chasing some vamp down a snow packed alley 'cause you slipped."
Buffy looked at her. "You know, I was half-kidding, but I really never thought about that. Maybe I'm starting to see your point. Snow does suck."
Faith laughed. "See, now you're feeling my pain, B. The old hellmouth isn't looking so bad now, is it?"
"Well, I don't think I'd go to that extreme," she said, smiling.
"Not much we can do about it now, being here and all," Faith said, checking out the living room. "Didn't look at this place when we got here, but man, what is all this stuff?" she asked, picking up a knick knack that was sitting on an old roll top desk.
Buffy joined her. "Giles said this was an old watcher's house. Umm, not an old watcher, but his house."
Faith put the eyesore down and turned to Buffy. "Do you even know what you're saying?"
"Of course I do," Buffy said, sitting down. "The watcher wasn't old, not super old, but his house kinda is. Inherited it from his mother or something. Didn't change it much after that. He was in London when council headquarters went boom. Of course, since he was a watcher, he really didn't have any friends or family here, so his house went to the Council, or what's left of them. I guess he left it to them. I'm not sure on that part."
"So if he would've lived…"
"He probably would've been Emma's watcher if she ever got called the normal way."
"They were so close to each other. Why wasn't he her watcher already? Isn't it kind of bizzaro that you have a potential slayer and a watcher and they hadn't hooked up yet?"
"You could say that," Buffy said. "Giles said that's why this guy was in England. They were going to activate him for Emma. I guess they couldn't afford to have every potential armed with a watcher, but his turn had come again. Guess he was pretty excited about it. Giles said that he had chances at other potentials before, but he wouldn't move. Once Emma came up on their radar, they were ready to give her to him and it would've worked out too…"
"If he wouldn't have gone boom."
"Yep."
Faith checked the room out even more. Everywhere she looked, she saw bric-a-brac. Old lady bric-a-brac. It reminded her of her grandmother's house. Glass angels, and candles, and vases, and unicorns were everywhere. In the furthest corner from where Faith stood, she saw a china cabinet with what had to be antique china in it. The living room was as dark as the kitchen was light.
Faith briefly wondered why the watcher had left so many of his mother's things out. Did he not have the time, or the heart to get rid of it all?
"Well, that explains a lot," Faith said. "The yellow-kitchen-from-hell, definitely screaming old lady."
Buffy laughed. "Was thinking the same thing about the bathroom upstairs. Wallpaper with huge blue flowers on every single wall and the curtains to match."
Faith sat back down on the couch. "How long she been dead?"
"No idea. And I'm trying not to think about it too much… creep factor and all."
"Good plan."
From somewhere in the house, a grandfather clock chimed twice. Faith looked at Buffy. "2:00 pm huh? Wonder where our new addition is?"
Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "She'll be here."
"I'll be right back. I'm going to take a peek outside. Who knows? Maybe she got lost and she's wandering aimlessly up and down the street," Faith said. She didn't have the chance to turn the knob. Someone was knocking on the door by the time she got to it. "Guess that answers that. Prompt little thing," she said, opening the door.
"Emma," she said, not exactly sure how to greet a slayerette. "Come." Faith stood back and let her in. "Faith," indicating herself, "and that's Buffy."
"Hi, Emma," Buffy said, as she joined them in the small entryway. "Let me take your coat."
Leave it to B to play welcoming committee. Faith was still trying to get over what Emma actually looked like. For some reason when Giles had told them that she was shy and meek, Faith immediately pictured her to be a book type. Kind of a dork. Emma wasn't either, really.
She was the same height as Faith, but had the coloring of Buffy, the hair anyway, but not the eyes. Her eyes were a dark brown like Faith's. Her hair was curly and from what Faith could tell, it spiraled halfway down the girl's back. That would get her into a heap of trouble patrolling. Faith had expected someone young, but Emma wasn't young. Faith could be wrong, but she would peg Emma to be her age, or maybe a year or so younger.
Faith's experience with shy people was that they lacked the eye contact. Emma had no problem looking either of them in the eye. Maybe Giles had gotten the wrong description of her. Suddenly, this wasn't making any sense to Faith at all. Shit, maybe it wasn't even her.
"You're Emma?" Faith finally asked.
"That would be me," she said. "Faith and Buffy. I've heard a lot about you both."
"You have?" Buffy asked.
"Not really," Emma said, smiling. "Just said that to try and break the 'who the hell are you' tension that was starting to build."
Faith was going to like this girl.
"We were under the impression that you were…shy?" Faith asked. "What was that all about? I've met shy, and you ain't it."
"Faith!" Buffy exclaimed.
"Not a big deal," Emma said. "Honestly, I was shy, once upon a time. Then one day, WHAM! I felt great. Best I ever felt in my life. I was strong and fast and I just felt different all over the place. Started getting all confident and stuff. The confidence did falter momentarily when I found myself being stalked by some creepy looking guy. Or what I thought was a creepy looking guy until the dirtbag tried to bite me." She looked at Buffy and Faith. "He tried to bite me."
Faith tried not to smile, but it didn't work. Buffy wasn't having much luck either from what Faith could tell.
"So what did you do?" Buffy finally asked.
Emma walked past them into the living room and sat down. Buffy and Faith exchanged glances and followed her. Buffy settled into a burgundy wingback chair and Faith leaned against the wall.
"That's the funny part. I'm not sure. I pushed him away from me and he, like, flew. He didn't fall, he flew. I was expecting him just to stumble back a couple steps. That was kind of neat. Smashed right against a tree. But then he was up and coming back towards me. I don't know how to fight. Never even took a stupid self-defense class, but I knew what to do."
"How?" Faith asked.
"Huge vampire fan. The old shy thing led to lots of reading. Anne Rice was my total favorite; until she freaked out and started writing stories that made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. You ever read any of her stuff? Anyway, books, movies, you name it, if there was a vampire involved, I was there." Emma paused and looked around. "Nice house. Anyway, once he tried to bite me, I just knew he was a vampire. I knew it. Of course I thought I knew it because of all those books I read, but now I know better."
"You staked him?" Buffy asked.
"Damn straight I did," she said, beaming. "Tree branch, a little one. It was a feeling I couldn't believe." Emma stopped talking, looking uncomfortable for the first time since she got there. "I guess I can tell you two, right? Being slayers and all? Kinda like a sisterhood now, right?"
"You can tell us anything," Buffy said.
"I missed the first time. Not the vampire, the heart. I had this stick in my hand and I jammed it into his chest. It was wild; I'd never stabbed anything before. You don't forget that feeling."
Faith's gaze shifted to Buffy as Emma was talking. The stabbing thing, a little to close to home, but B didn't seem not to notice, giving Emma her rapt attention.
"And then he looked at me, right in the eye," Emma continued. "It's like we were both waiting for him to turn to dust and then he didn't. Talk about panic. I figured I was dead for sure. Then I pulled out the stick and slammed it into his chest again. It felt the same." Emma stopped talking and started mimicking the staking with her right hand, her expression going back to that place and time. "It's hard to explain. It's like I went to push it in and it wouldn't go at first. Just a little resistance and then butter, it was in. I felt it go. And I knew I had him this time. Then poof, he was gone. Most amazing thing I've ever felt in my life."
"Welcome to the wonderful world of slayage," Faith said.
"So you guys have stories of your first time too?"
Faith arched her eyebrow and then smiled wickedly, a hundred remarks flashing through her mind.
"Faith…"
Leave it to B to put the kibosh on her fun.
"Anyway," Emma said, the exchange between Faith and Buffy going unnoticed, "what is it with this house? Looks like my grandma's used to."
Faith watched as she walked over to an end table, and picked up something. "Oh my god, she had this same bowl."
"Wait until you see the kitchen," Faith said.
"And the bathrooms upstairs," Buffy added.
"I can hardly wait," she said, smiling. "So, what's going on? Mr. Giles said I should be here at 2:00 to give, how did he say it," her voice deepened, "'an overview of the areas that have the potential for the most vampire activity.'I like the way he talks. Makes him sound really smart."
Faith looked at Buffy; she wasn't sure what they should do.
"He is really smart, but he isn't here at the moment. He had some errands to run. Why don't we wait until he gets back? I'm sure he'll want to hear about it," Buffy said.
"I guess that's okay," Emma said. "It's all kinda weird, though. I've been by myself for so long. Never told anyone what I was doing, figured they wouldn't believe me. Now I have three other people…"
"Five," Faith said.
"Five?"
"Yep, Xander and Willow. Willow's a witch. They're with Giles."
Faith watched as Emma's eyes went as wide as the yellow saucers in the kitchen.
"A witch? Like she can cast spells and stuff? You're kidding, right?"
"Nope, she's not," Buffy said.
"No way! I like witches almost as much as I like vampires. Anne Rice had that entire witch series too. If I wasn't reading about vampires, I was reading about witches. So do you guys like have sex all the time?" she asked.
"No!" Buffy said, rather too quickly.
"Speak for yourself, B," Faith said, laughing.
XXXXX