As they sat in the kitchen talking, Faith's first reaction to Emma was one of surprise. Surprise that she didn't have any issues talking to her and Buffy about all the weirdness she had seen over the last year. But then again, not like she had anyone else to talk to before today.
Emma told them that she wasn't an only child; she had an older brother off somewhere 'finding himself'. Both of her parents were the career type and worked all sorts of weird hours. Emma spent a lot of time alone and that's when she usually read. If there was a book about anything supernatural, there was a good chance that Emma had read it.
As she talked, Faith found that what Emma knew about vampires was mixed with both fact and what some author had made up. She would need to mention that to Giles. The difference between what was true and what wasn't could save her life one day.
Faith's thoughts immediately went to research as Emma talked about all the reading she had done. Emma would eat that research shit up. Good thing too. Research and Faith didn't go hand in hand and having someone there to relieve some of the burden was never a bad thing. Not that there'd been much research lately, but still, it could happen.
Emma was only 19. Faith had been wrong about her age. Faith needed to remember to ask Giles what happened to potentials that never got called. Could there be a slayer out there somewhere who was in her 30's? In her 40's? Faith smiled to herself as she imagined an old woman waking up one morning feeling better than she had in years.
She was just about to say as much when she heard a commotion coming from the living room. "Looks like they're back," Faith said.
"It matches, Xander," Giles said, as he hung his coat on the hook just inside the front door. "They're identical. You cannot tell one from the other."
"He's right, Xander," Willow said. "You look like you used to do. Don't worry, no one will notice."
"So, I got my uber-attractive studly look back, huh?" he said, with a small grin.
"Damn straight, you do," Faith said, joining them in the living room. "Look at you. Looks good. And you know I don't just say shit to hear myself talk."
Faith couldn't believe he had gone through almost all the preliminary surgery in Italy, he even got the damn mold made, and once he found out that it was done, and that his new eye was ready, he refused to go and get it. When Giles had found out, he tried to contact Xander, but he'd already high tailed it to Africa. Faith figured Giles' daddy complex had come out and he was trying to help, but Xander had been stubborn as hell and kept saying that he'd take care of it later. Of course, Faith knew why now. She highly doubted anyone else really knew. Willow, maybe, but Faith couldn't be sure.
Giles finally convinced Xander that it would be the thing to do before they left for Sunnydale and the entire Master mess. Xander told Giles that he'd take care of it when they got back.
Looks like the watcher kept him to it, and thankfully, Xander kept his word.
"Xander, it looks great!" Buffy said. "Guess I don't need to ask how it went."
"Splendidly," Giles said.
"I'm not sure what everyone is talking about," Emma said. "But you look fine to me." She turned to Faith. "What are we talking about?"
Faith wasn't sure if she should tell her. It was Xander's eye, not hers. "Ask him," she finally said.
"You must be Emma," Giles said, extending his hand and walking towards her. "I'm Rupert Giles, Buffy and Faith's watcher, and now yours too. Pleasure to meet you."
"You're the one I talked to on the phone," she said, accepting his hand. "You look different than I thought you would. Older."
"Well, how nice," Giles stammered briefly and then recovered. "Did all go well with the introductions?"
"Yep, went really well," Emma said. "They made me feel like I fit right in. Weird, feels like I've known them longer than just today."
"She's right." Buffy said.
"And the shy thing," Faith began. "Not an issue. You got the queen of the supernatural here. Research is going to be a breeze for her."
"Research?" Emma asked.
"Don't ask," Xander said. "I'm Xander, by the way." He walked up to her and shook her hand.
"And I'm Willow," she said, smiling.
"Oh! You're the witch," Emma said.
"Um, yeah, I'm a witch," Willow said, surprised. "I'm a witch not a witch! I'm a witch who isn't witchy."
"Faith and Buffy were just telling me about all of you. It's, I mean, wow, great to meet you all," Emma gushed. "First the vampire slayer thing, then witches. This is too cool for words."
"Look at that," Xander said. "The naïveté of youth."
"She's nineteen, Xander," Buffy said.
"She's older than you were when you started and not like she's as young as some of the potentials were back in Sunnydale," Faith added.
"I was just saying…" Xander began.
"Whatever, Sinbad," Faith added, turning and heading back towards the kitchen.
"Faith," Xander followed her. "I already told you, Sinbad a sailor, not a pirate and he has both his eyes."
"So do you." She winked at him.
"Ahh, you set me up."
"And I didn't even know you were getting the new eye. How good am I?"
Buffy, Emma and Giles came into the kitchen on Faith's last comment.
"Faith, what did I say earlier?" Giles said.
She rolled her eyes. "It's not all about that, Giles. Not even talking about that."
"About what?" Emma asked.
"Faith's preoccupation with sex," Xander supplied.
"I am not preoccupied with sex," Faith huffed. "I just like it a lot. And ever since I became a slayer, I like it a lot more often."
"Really?" Emma's saucer eyes were back.
"Faith…" Giles cautioned.
"Yo, you're the one who brought this up," Faith said.
"I did not bring this up," Giles said. "I just believe it is inappropriate to be constantly speaking of one's sex life in front of others. Especially others we've just met."
"Giles," Buffy said. "Losing battle."
Faith watched as Giles looked at Buffy and then nodded his head in agreement. "Emma," Giles began, "did you bring the documents I asked for?"
"If you mean the maps, yep, got 'em right here. Be back in a sec."
Once Emma left the room, Willow, Giles, Xander, Buffy and Faith all began talking at once.
"Who told her I was a witch?"
"Can we please refrain from all the sexual innuendos for at least one day?"
"Does she know I have a glass eye?"
"Faith told her you were a witch."
"Maybe I did, but I didn't tell her about Sinbad."
Emma strolled back into the kitchen, her arms full of maps, all bickering stopped.
"What?" she asked. "Did I miss something?"
A chorus of 'No's' immediately followed.
XXXXX
Faith tossed the yellow placemats haphazardly onto the counter next to the yellow microwave and Giles spread the maps out over the kitchen table.
"Please begin, Emma," he said.
"Okay, thanks." Emma stood, chewing on her bottom lip, checking out the maps that Giles had spread out. After rearranging a few, she started talking.
"Well," she began. "This is Metro, the airport you flew in to. The airport's not actually in Detroit, it's in Romulus. A lot of places are referred to as Detroit, but they're not really Detroit. It could be any suburb outside the city. The city itself is, well, I don't particularly care to be down there alone at night and I'm a slayer. But parts of it have been improved and there is a night life that doesn't involve being mugged or raped. The plan is to make it like a lot of other downtowns. But still, if you want something to do, you can go downtown and usually find something."
"Like what?" Faith asked.
"There's Greektown and Mexicantown. Good food, good places to eat. They have a few casinos now, so if you like to gamble those are there. They have dance clubs and comedy clubs, stuff like your normal big cities have, just not as much. They have a new ballpark that I heard is pretty nice. Never been there myself, but it's not like it's the season for that. And hockey, the normal city stuff."
"What about Motown? Where is that at?" Buffy asked.
Emma smiled. "Well, it's not a town exactly. At least I don't think it is. It's a museum I guess, a really small one. A recording studio too, I believe. Not sure if they use it still or if it's just part of a tour. Motown, from what I can tell is more of a sound, a reputation, not an actual town."
Faith glanced at B, whose expression showed a wide-eyed I didn't know look.
"And right now, you're not actually in Detroit. You would be in a suburb of it. You wouldn't want to live there anyway. Windsor is nice. Total opposite of this place just across the water. It's in Canada, a different country and everything. You go there; you can walk alone at night and not worry about anything. Like some magical barrier separates the two or something.
"Not as unlikely as you think," Xander quipped.
Emma's eyes grew big. "I hadn't thought of that! It would explain a lot. Oh, and they have clubs, and the theatres and their own casinos. Cleaner--God is it cleaner. But don't try to go there if you don't have your birth certificate. Need to make sure you're not a terrorist or something.
"Where do you live?" Xander asked, walking to the refrigerator and grabbing a soda.
"About twenty miles north of here."
"And where is here exactly?" Buffy asked, snatching the can of soda out of Xander's hand with a smile. Xander proceeded to go back to the refrigerator and grab another one.
"I'll take one of those too, please," Emma said. "You're about twenty-five miles out. You're a little more west of Detroit then I am."
"So where do we start?" Giles asked. "Downtown?"
Emma sighed. "Yep. If you want to see any vampires, that's where they'll be." She popped the lid on the soda Xander handed her. "Thanks," she said, taking a big sip.
"Then we get our supplies and load up the van," Giles said.
"I have my own car," Emma volunteered. "All of us won't fit in it, but I could drive too."
"I would prefer we all stay together right now, Emma," Giles said. "Until we know what we're up against, there is most definitely safety in numbers."
"Okay, just putting it out there."
"Yo, Giles, hate to break up the party, but B and I are tapped out. Don't have anything. Couldn't bring any stakes with us in our carry-on, you know?" Faith said. "I have stuff in my car, but it's not here yet."
"I assumed as much," Giles said. "This way, please."
They all followed Giles into the basement, where he led them to a huge crate that was hidden under the stairs.
"The previous watcher was obviously prepared in case he was needed," Giles said, opening the crate that held more weapons then Faith had seen in a while.
"Damn!" Faith said.
"I think there's more in that crate then you had in your chest back home, Buffy," Willow said.
"Damn fine workmanship that was," Xander said, obviously reminiscing about something.
"Buffy's chest?" Faith asked, smirking.
"Since we don't know what we're dealing with, exactly," Giles said, apparently choosing to ignore Faith's latest comment. "I believe we should keep to the smaller weapons. With our larger number, the smaller weapons should not be a problem. We're new to this hellmouth. In Sunnydale, you could chance walking down the street with a sword in your hand. That may not be the case here."
"Giles?" Buffy asked.
"Yes," he said, moving out of the way so the others could have access to the crate.
"Faith and I were talking earlier, and I guess there's certain tools a slayer needs when working in the cold."
"Such as?" he asked, taking his own stake and putting it in his jacket pocket.
"Boots, stylin' black leather coat, gloves," Faith said. "Did I mention totally kickin' boots?"
"We will be going shopping tomorrow. The change in weather has been taken into consideration," Giles said with a smile. "Not to worry, ladies. The council may be gone, but their philosophy, or some of it, lives on."
"The mall," Buffy said. "We need to go to the mall. We've survived the destruction of The Hellmouth not once, but twice, if that doesn't scream shopping, nothing does."
"The mall?" Willow asked. "Yes! The mall. We never did get our shopping in, did we?"
"God help us," Xander said, shaking his head and securing his own weapons.
"I know some good ones," Emma said. "I'm sure we can find just what you'll need. Being your humble tour guide and all, that's the least I can do."
"We are so out numbered," Xander said, looking at Giles.
"I believe you may be correct," Giles said, admitting defeat.
XXXXX
Taking I-96, they made it downtown in less than a half an hour. Emma directed Giles to a parking structure adjacent to one of the casinos. During the weekend, the parking structures were open to the public and parking was free.
"The casinos are pretty popular," Emma said, as they all got out of the van. "Usually people just park and use the passageway straight into the casino. Others park and head out to the coffee shops, bars, and restaurants that are open later. Parking around here is horrible. So instead of driving around looking for a place to park, they drop their cars off here and walk."
"Can I ask you a question?" Buffy said.
"Shoot," Emma replied.
"You live kinda far away from here, why did you come down here at all?"
"Sounds like a simple enough question, but it's really not." Emma stopped walking and turned to face Buffy. "My parents were… are never home. There was this big battle about me going to college. I didn't want to. They basically ignored me for the first seventeen years of my life. Why should I do something just because they wanted me to? We fought about it for almost two years. They couldn't physically make me go, so I didn't. Then this whole slayer thing kicked in. That vamp, the first one I staked, was down here. I got pissed off one night, climbed in my car and just started driving. I wound up downtown and did what everyone else does, parked my car and started walking. Wanted something to drink and I passed a coffee shop that was open on my way into town. Between here and there…"
"You met the creepy guy who turned out to be a vamp." Faith finished for her.
"In a nutshell, yep. So the nights my folks aren't home, which seems to be almost every night, I climb in my car and come down here," she said.
"And if they're home?" Faith asked.
"If they're home, I just wait until they're asleep. They're so dead to the world when the finally get in, it's not hard to do."
"It is possible that you didn't just happen to end up down here, Emma," Giles said. "It could be that the slayer in you knew you'd find the most activity here, and instinct guided you. Being new, you may not have recognized it. Comments have been made that this isn't a place to come after dark, especially alone."
"He's got a point," Faith said. "Ever been down here before that? Alone even?"
"A few times with my folks for baseball games and stuff when I was a kid, but that's about it. Never would've even considered coming down here by myself at night. That's just crazy."
"Welcome to the wonderful world of slayer vibes," Faith said, giving Emma a light push.
"If this is anything like Sunnydale," Buffy said, as they all began walking again. "Her vibes will be on overload. There's gotta be demon hotspots. Feels weird to be starting all over again. No matter what was going on, we always knew where to go. I have no clue here. I don't like that feeling. It's strange and kinda icky… and I think I kinda miss Willy."
"I'm sure they will be most helpful," Giles said, as they made their way down to the main floor of the parking structure and out onto the street. "All of your slayer attributes will be. And if you recall, Buffy, when you first arrived in Sunnydale, you didn't know much, either."
"But Angel did," Buffy said. "In his way, he showed me the ropes, where to go, what to do." Buffy stopped and looked around. "Not seeing an Angel here anywhere."
"Angel?" Emma asked.
"Vampire with a soul," Xander said. "Both him and Spike. Two vampires that have souls. Makes them good vampires."
"Good vampires? Vampires don't have souls, do they?" Emma said. "Never stopped to think about it."
"No, they do not, Emma. The demon takes control and the soul typically leaves the body. Well, it does leave the body, but in the cases of Angel and Spike, circumstances arose that restored their souls to them. Do not be fooled. They are exceptions, and I am highly doubtful that we will run into anything like that here," Giles said. "It is most unlikely that you will ever come in contact with a souled vampire."
"And if you do," Xander said, "don't date them."
Emma snorted. "Who would date a vampire? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard."
Willow and Giles averted their eyes from Emma, and Faith caught Xander laughing quietly under his breath.
Faith glanced at Buffy, who had stopped to examine something really interesting on her sleeve. Ha! Subtle, B. She might as well be wearing a big old sandwich board about how she had knocked boots with not one, but two vampires. Emma would have a field day with that one. But since Faith ventured into that territory once herself, she wasn't bringing it up.
"That's the second time you've done that to me," Emma said. "All this inside joke stuff. One day…" her voice trailed off.
Emma led them out of the parking structure. They moved past the coffee shop, the one she had planned on stopping at one night last year. Emma kept walking, leading them further and further downtown.
"Beginning to wonder if there's a point to this," Faith said. "We've been walking, for what? A half an hour? And I haven't seen anything. Are we sure Detroit's on a hellmouth?"
"Not sure about the hellmouth part, but I know there are vampires down here. Just not sure where they are right now," Emma said, the confusion spreading across her face.
"Maybe they heard we're here," Xander said. "Three slayers on one hellmouth bound to make any vamp think twice before messing with…Ugh…"
"Xander!" Buffy said. "Are you okay?"
"Where'd that hole come from?" He said, regaining his balance. "Why are there holes in the middle of the street?"
"Potholes," Emma said. "Welcome to Michigan."
"Need I say more?" Faith asked. "Kept telling you people, but no one would listen to me."
"Telling them what?" Emma asked.
"Winter sucks."
"She's right. It pretty much does." Emma confirmed. "I've never been to California. Must've been nice there."
"Faith's from Boston," Willow said.
"Never been there, either."
Buffy stopped walking. "Faith's right. We've been out here for almost an hour and we haven't seen anything."
"Maybe there's too many of us," Willow said. "Maybe the vampires here know there's safety in numbers. We should split up or something. There are six of us. I say we split into groups of two. Each group goes in a different direction and we see what we can find."
"We have three slayers. It's only logical to have one slayer per group," Giles said. "Buffy, you go with Willow. Xander can accompany Faith. Emma and I will team up." He checked his watch. "We'll meet back here in exactly one hour. Questions?"
"No offense, Giles, but Emma is a pretty new slayer. Are you sure she shouldn't go with me or B?" Faith asked. "We haven't seen her fight. You said yourself she hasn't really been trained. I'm just saying…"
"Giles is right, Faith," Buffy said. "She hasn't had actual training, but she's been doing this for over a year. I think going with a watcher is a good idea."
"Didn't think of it that way," Faith said, shrugging. "Sounds like a plan to me."
"Okay, starting to feel like I'm not here," Emma said.
"You'll get used to it," Xander said.
"Looks like you and me, Will," Buffy said, putting her arm around her best friend and they headed off.
"Emma," Giles asked, "which way?"
Emma indicated to her left. "That'll work. I know there are some vamps down there. At least there usually are."
Faith watched as Buffy, Willow, Giles, and Emma all disappeared into the shadows of downtown Detroit. There weren't as many people out as Faith would've thought. But she supposed that the group of them had wandered far enough off the main path for that to be so. Guess Detroit had a rep for a reason.
"Come on, Sinbad,' Faith said. "We'll go this way. Nice and dark and a few alleys that I can see."
"Wonderful," Xander said. "And Faith? About the Sinbad…"
XXXXX