Night Falls
Notes: Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming.
Previously:
The shorter girl stared up at her for several long moments before she grabbed the back of Faith's head and crushed their lips together. Faith moaned at the contact, her brain reeling at the thought that Buffy was kissing her. As quickly as it started, it ended. Buffy pulled away, glanced at her with wide eyes, and ran off into the night.
Chapter Thirteen:
Faith had intended to walk the very simple, straight road back to Buffy's house, confront her sister Slayer about their intense, but short kiss, and perhaps indulge in another. However, the road bent around and crossed, spinning Faith in circles until she found herself standing in front of Willy's Place, a local demon bar where Buffy often went for information. Faith, on the other hand, often went there for a drink. Shrugging, she walked inside. Eighties metal greeted her ears from the jukebox and all eyes turned to stare at her as she entered. Throwing up her hands defensively, she said, "No trouble here, I just want a drink."
The demons stared at her warily for several long moments and then resumed their conversations, ignoring the former rogue Slayer. "What can I get ya?" Willy asked as he wiped down the bar with his dirty towel that Faith imagined had been white at some point in time. She hated Willy. He smelled like cheap carry out and his face always shone slick with oil. Plastering a fake smile on her face, she took a seat at the bar, allowing her eyes time to adjust to the dim lighting before ordering a shot of Jack Daniels.
"Actually," she said, when Willy had turned to grab the bottle, "make it a double."
"Rough night, kid?" Willy asked, pouring her the shot. Faith smiled strangely.
"Something like that," she replied. Taking the glass in her hand, she lifted it to her lips, tilted back her head, and let the liquid slide down her throat. It burned her mouth, but she swallowed it and sighed, slamming the glass down on the bar. "How about another?"
Willy smirked and poured her another shot. "I'd take it easy if I were you," he cautioned.
"Why's that?" Faith asked as she downed the second shot and motioned for another.
"Lot of demons in here. I'm sure they wouldn't mind getting their hands on a drunk Slayer. A dead Slayer is a dead Slayer, even if she was incapacitated at the time," Willy noted. Faith grinned.
"I think you're missing the point," Faith said. "I'm a Slayer. I have Slayer metabolism. I don't get drunk. I rarely even get buzzed. So me and these demons, not gonna be a problem."
"Whatever you say, kid," Willy replied as he poured Faith another. Several shots later, Faith slapped her knee and laughed heartily as Willy recounted the story of a particularly violent poker game that he had held in his back room several months before.
"They bet with kittens?" Faith asked, her voice slightly slurred. Willy nodded.
"That's why there ain't much of an alley cat problem in this town," he said.
"I always wondered about that. I just thought the vampires ate them," Faith said thoughtfully. "Give me another drink," she said, motioning to the shot glass, but missing it.
"I thought you said you couldn't get drunk," Willy whispered to her from across the bar.
Faith leaned forward, giggling, and replied, "I was totally wrong." Willy nodded and poured her another drink.
"So what happened tonight that's got you in here drowning your sorrows?" Willy asked in concern. He had always like Faith. She was not so eager to break his nose as Buffy was, though he knew that the dark haired Slayer was not particularly fond of him.
"I'm not drowning my sorrows," Faith said defensively.
"Really? Because from this side of the bar, it looks like you are," he replied matter-of-factly.
"I'm drowning my mind numbing, overwhelming confusion," Faith shot back. "You know, I always knew that she had a thing for me. That night we danced at the Bronze, that wasn't some friendly, best buds kinda dance. That was a pure, unadulterated, sexually charged mating dance," Faith rambled. "But then she was all over Angel like he was the second coming and totally forgot that I existed. Not that I thought I ever had a chance with her anyway. She's like the sun, you know? She just burns and burns, radiating all of this energy that draws everyone to her."
"Who are we talking about here?" Willy asked in confusion.
"Buffy!" Faith said in irritation, as if Willy should have been able to read her mind. "Then she goes and kisses me tonight. I mean, what was that? She goes from hating me to wanting to jump my bones? I don't get it."
"Unless she never actually hated you," Willy pointed out.
"What do you mean?" Faith asked, staring up at him as if he were the lighthouse saving her sinking ship.
"Well, you two have a lot of history between you. You both screwed up, right? Maybe she always felt something towards you, but never knew how to express it. Then you go all evil on her and she thinks that she should hate you for it, but she can't, because she has these feelings. So then she starts to resent you because you make her feel so conflicted. Finally, you come back here, all reformed, ready to kick some bad guy ass, and she thinks that, after all that time, she can give into her feelings. You've become the person she thought you could, so it's okay now," Willy explained wisely.
Faith stared at him until he began to fidget under her penetrating gaze. "When did you get to be so smart?" Faith finally asked, nearly falling off her stool. She laughed and reseated herself, slumping over at the bar.
"I've always been this smart," Willy said in mock indignation. "I'm a bartender."
"Oh, right," Faith said, as if she had been granted some special knowledge. Willy smiled and laid his towel down on the bar. Leaning forward on his elbows, he waited until Faith was paying attention to him to speak.
"Look, kid. I can see that you're going through something. But sitting here, getting plastered isn't going to fix anything. It's just going to make it worse. So get outta here, go home, and get some sleep," he said.
"Don't I owe you something?" Faith asked, reaching into her pocket for money she did not have. Willy smiled patiently and shook his head.
"Nah," he said. "Always happy to treat the Slayer. It's on the house."
Faith cocked her head and watched him for a moment. "You know something, Willy," she said, "I think I was wrong about you. You're not so bad."
"Thanks. That means a lot," Willy replied. "Now go home."
Faith nodded and turned, stumbling out of the bar. The chilly night air slapped her in the face, sobering her slightly. She stood, wrapping her jacket around herself, and stared down the long, dark road that led to Buffy's house. Sighing, she started to walk.
……………………………..
"Oh, bloody Hell, I can't have been biting anyone, I've got a chip in my head!" Spike argued.
"I saw you," Hailey said in exasperation. "You, getting all fangy, and killing some girl."
"That's impossible," Spike grumbled.
"The First could be controlling you," Buffy pointed out. "In which case, you wouldn't remember anything…well, we think anyway. It could have done something to your chip."
"This is ridiculous. Let me out of these chains," Spike yelled.
"Not until we figure out what's going on," Giles said, removing his glasses, and cleaning them on the front of his shirt.
"And how exactly are we gonna do that? Poke around in my head a little? I think not," Spike argued back.
"Hypnotism may be the only way to recover your supposedly lost memories, Although, personally, I think you're lying to us. Why aren't we just staking him again?" Giles asked in frustration. "He poses a threat to everyone in this house."
"We need him," Buffy argued.
"Really?" Giles shot back. "And this has nothing to do with the fact that you were sleeping with him?"
"No," Buffy said angrily. "It doesn't have anything to do with that. Whatever Spike and I had is done. But he's one of the best warriors we have and, right now, we need every warrior we can get."
"Wait a second, you've met someone else, haven't you?" Spike asked. "Who is it? Do I know him? I'm gonna kick his ass."
"Shut up, Spike," Buffy said irritably. Hailey smirked, reading the blush crawling up Buffy's neck correctly. She knew that Faith was desperately in love with Buffy, although the younger girl never admitted it. Though Buffy had never hinted either way, Hailey assumed that something had happened on their patrol that night.
"What's going on?" Faith asked, as she nearly fell down the stairs. She reached the bottom and paused for a moment to regain her balance. "Why's Spike chained up?"
Buffy looked at her incredulously. "Are you drunk?" She asked.
"No," Faith answered with indignation. "Well, maybe a little," she replied, grinning.
Buffy rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, attempting to ward off the headache she was sure would come. "Spike has been killing people," Buffy explained.
"So then why aren't we staking him?" Faith asked in confusion.
"Finally, a voice of reason," Giles said. "Even drunk she understands this concept. Spike is a danger."
"Buffy's right," Hailey said, coming to the blonde Slayer's defense. "We need him. If we can figure out how the First is controlling him…"
"If it is," Giles interrupted.
"Then," Hailey said, glancing over at him, "we may have a tremendous opportunity to learn about the First. Figure out how it does things. Maybe even turn the tables on it."
"Which is why we need Spike alive and why you need to hypnotize him," Buffy explained, throwing a look of thanks in Hailey's direction. Hailey smiled and nodded.
"I'm gonna go get some air," Faith said, moving back up the stairs. The world had started spinning and standing in a dark basement with a bunch of stressed out people did little to help. Opening the front door, she stepped outside again and sighed, closing it behind her. She walked over to the porch railing and leaned against it, closing her eyes. She heard the door open behind her and she turned to see Buffy walking towards her.
"I need to talk to you," Faith said, turning so that her back was against the railing.
"I need to talk to you too," Buffy said.
"Okay, you first," Faith replied.
"What happened tonight was a mistake," Buffy said, keeping a safe distance from Faith. "I shouldn't have kissed you."
"What are you talking about?" Faith asked in surprise.
"This," Buffy said, motioning between them, "will never happen. I hate you. You're the antithesis of everything that I want. Why can't you get that through you're head? You're nothing to me, Faith. So I lost control for a moment and wanted a warm body to press myself against. It's happened before. I mean, last year it was Spike, the year before, Riley, and now almost with you. But I don't hate myself enough to lower myself to sleeping with you, Faith. I never will," Buffy said, turned, and walked back into the house.
Faith stared after her in shock, tears stinging her eyes. Angrily rubbing at her eyes, she strode forward and threw open the front door. "I don't see why this is such a problem," Buffy said as she walked towards the front door with Hailey. Buffy looked up at Faith and smiled slightly, her eyes shining with the same something that Faith could not identify back in the graveyard.
"What the hell," Faith muttered, watching as Hailey and Buffy stopped walking and stared at her in confusion.
"You look like you're about to kill something," Hailey commented. "What's up?"
"Are you okay?" Buffy asked, stepping forward.
"Not really," Faith replied, slightly staggering as she walked into the house and closed the door.
"What happened?" Buffy asked, rushing to her side as Faith leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor with a dazed look in her eye.
"You just totally blew me off," Faith replied, looking over at her.
"What are you talking about? This is me all with the concern and none of the blowing off," Buffy replied confusedly.
"I don't mean right now. I mean a couple of minutes ago, out on the porch," Faith replied.
"Buffy wasn't on the porch," Hailey said. "She's been in the basement."
"I saw you. You said shit to me. I was there," Faith argued.
"Touch me," Buffy said suddenly.
"What?" Faith asked in exasperation.
"Just do it," Buffy said. Faith reached out with trembling fingers and touched the side of Buffy's face. "See? I'm right here. I'm real. Whatever you saw, it wasn't."
"Oh shit," Faith said, slamming her head back against the wall. "I must just be fucking retarded."
"Don't do that," Buffy admonished her. "You're going to give yourself brain damage."
"I think I'm gonna give you guys a minute," Hailey said, moving out of the room.
"It was the First, wasn't it? It came to me as you. How can it do that?" Faith wondered.
"Because I died," Buffy said. "All that people that it's appeared as have been dead."
"Great," Faith muttered sarcastically. "So how am I supposed to know when I'm really talking to you?"
"I guess you'll just have to find a way," Buffy said, raising her eyebrows and looking at Faith pointedly.
Faith smiled. "I think we need to talk," she said.
"I know," Buffy said, sighing. "I'm sorry I ran off on you like that. I just freaked. I shouldn't have."
"No?" Faith asked, not quite able to believe her.
"No," Buffy confirmed. "I should have stayed."
"I kinda wish you had," Faith acknowledged. "Maybe then I wouldn't have gotten tanked."
"You're gonna regret that in the morning," Buffy said as she helped Faith to her feet. "Let's get you to bed."
"Already?" Faith asked. "Not into taking things slow, huh?" She joked.
Buffy rolled her eyes and slapped her on the arm. "You know what I meant."
"Yeah, I do," Faith agreed. "Did you really sleep with Spike?" She asked, looking over at Buffy, who had a deer-in-the-headlights look on her face.
"Who told you that?" She asked desperately.
"You did," Faith said. "Or, the other you. The First did."
"Oh," Buffy said.
"So, did you?" Faith asked.
"You know, you have no right to judge, you slept with Riley after you stole my body," Buffy pointed out. "And you slept with Xander."
"What's your point?" Faith asked.
"Clean slate," Buffy stated. "From now on, clean slate."
"I think I can live with that," Faith said, smiling.
"Good, now, like I said," Buffy replied, "let's get you to bed."