Title: Five by Five
Summary: Faith's long lost twin sister Hope has come to Rome in search of her sister. When two sisters meet everything seems to brighten but does something supernatural threaten to end this new reunion of sisters? And the question of whether Hope is a Potential is overpowering but will she bow down to the ways of the slayer?
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for Hope. And, of course, I don't own Underworld either. Or Romeo and Juliet. Or Moulin Rouge.
Author Notes: Sorry about the long time without updates, guys. I had a massive writer's block, plus Joss' words about not letting characters being happy for too long kinda reverberated in my mind. So to pay respect to his wise words, unfortunately, I will have to split up this couple who I think is one of the cutest I've ever pictured (besides Russ and Fred but people who haven't read 'Job Well Done' won't understand that).
Anyways, I'm doing one of those ever annoying time skips... Skipping forward a few weeks in time. So yeah... Um, that's all I have to say.
Chapter 17: Slaying, Movies and Roofs
Several weeks went by and it seemed that everything was perfect. Hope and Spike had grown inseparably close, Faith was settled in and enjoying the life of the rich, living of Wolfram and Hart. But Angel... Well, he'd grown detached and was now spending more time at the Italian Wolfram and Hart office than in the hotel room. Everyone knew that something big was going down, but Angel kept quiet about it and no one asked.
Now that the background has been laid out... On with the story at this later on point in time.
Faith was out. Hunting. Or slaying. Either term could be used. To tell you the truth, she really didn't want to be cooped up in the hotel room while Hope and Spike got all 'friendly'. Sure, she loved that they'd both found happiness in each other, but enough was enough.
Her having no man of her own was also starting to grate on her. But then she remembered why she didn't, and then she was no longer angry. Just depressed. And that was never a good place to be. Or a common one for Faith. And she didn't like the unfamiliarity and bad feelings brought on by it. So she preferred to avoid the whole thing by going out every night to slay some poor, sorry ass vamps.
She had just finished one off and was wiping off dirt on her jacket from when the vamp decided to get rough, when Buffy appeared from the shadows. Must be something she learned to do from Angel.
"Faith?" She asked and Faith jumped slightly and looked at Buffy.
"B? Shit, you almost gave me a heart attack. What're ya doing hiding in the shadows?" Faith asked and Buffy quickly stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight, towards Faith. A move that Faith countered with a step backwards. Buffy noted this and decided to take the less aggressive approach.
"I was watching you." Buffy responded and then blushed slightly as Faith gave her a once over with a look, "I mean, I was slaying. And then I heard a struggle. And it's too late for it to be the others, so I thought I'd check it out."
"And viola." Faith said, arms sweeping to the side of her, "Here I am."
"Faith, we've been worried about you. You just... Disappeared."
"We?" Faith asked, an attempt at stalling for a while. And also out of some curiosity.
"Everyone at the house." Buffy replied and Faith broke the eye contact. Damn, that girl could really give a death stare.
"Well, I'm sorry B. Me and Hope just had to get some air, ya know? The whole thing got a bit much." Faith said and Buffy softened her glare, not even realised that she had it in the first place or that she had lost it.
"Right." Buffy said, nodding but not believing it completely.
"Yeah." Faith said and there was an uncomfortable silence and Faith twirled her stake in between her fingers before tucking it in the back of her leathers.
"How's Hope?" Buffy asked, suddenly and Faith shrugged.
"She's good." Faith said, not wanting to elaborate in case something about Spike happened to slip out. And that wouldn't do any good for any person involved.
"And you?" Buffy asked and Faith looked at her, unsure of the point of this and a little uneasy.
"Five by five, B. Five by five." Faith said, humour playing in her eyes and Buffy smirked at her. Faith then asked, "How bout you, B?"
"Five by five." Buffy replied, her eyebrow slightly raised and they both smiled at each other. They had reached an understanding. Finally.
So that had to be the time that a vampire attacked. Of course they quickly finished it off. No muss, no fuss, after all. And during the fight, the understanding that they had reached was bonded. The movements they made were in sync and they seemed to connect on another level. One that was beyond any mental understanding, it was a physical bond, something made in the heat of the battle.
And in that moment, they were one.
Meanwhile…
Another two people where one. Of course, it was Hope and Spike. But not one in the very dirty sense. In the less dirty, more sweet sense. In other words they were kissing. And enjoying it. Hope pushed Spike back slightly and grinned at him.
"Not now Railroad. I really want to watch the movie." Hope protested and Spike groaned.
"C'mon pet, it's just a movie." Spike said and tried to achieve Hope's attention through other means.
"Railroad, it's my favourite movie. I love it." Hope said, trying to return the wandering hands to the owner.
"Aww, come on pet." Spike whinged, but Hope shook her head firmly, eyes glued to the screen. The lack of attention annoyed Spike and he grumbled to himself, "It's not as if it's even true or anything. Stupid Hollywood."
"Railroad!" Hope said and hit him on the chest lightly, "The gun idea they came up with was true though." Hope said, and thought about that for a second.
"Well yeah, but the vampires are done all wrong. I mean, look how they die. So many bloody special effects. What happened to the ashes? And the stake, and the non reflection, and the hate of all things holy. And don't even get me started on the werewolves." Spike complained about the lack of truth in the movie and Hope chuckled lightly.
"Y'know I'm surprised that someone who is so supernatural himself, can't watch a movie that is meant to be about supernatural things that aren't meant to be true, without keeping quiet." Hope said, eyes still on the screen.
"How's that, pet?" Spike asked, clearly lost. Hope just shook her head and sighed.
"Don't worry, just shush." Hope said and Spike did so. Finally.
So they sat there, enjoying (well Hope enjoyed anyway) the rest of the movie. With only a small amount of interruption from Spike, when he protested that there was no way werewolf and vampire blood could be mixed. The movie, Hope's favourite, was of course 'Underworld'. When the movie ended Spike grabbed Hope's hand and pulled her along, urging her to follow him.
"C'mon pet, I want to show you something." Spike coerced and Hope gave in.
"Ok, ok, what is it?" She said and followed him to the balcony. He opened up the doors and Hope followed him out to the balcony, hesitantly. She didn't exactly know what was happening and was a touch scared of what was going to happen next. Spike took her to the very edge of the balcony and Hope was suddenly very aware that they were on the penthouse and that they were many levels above the street below. Spike got up on the quite thick cement fence and Hope looked up at him as if he was crazy.
"Spike! What are you doing?" Hope exclaimed and Spike reached up to the roof which was just within his reach and hoisted himself up, and onto the roof landing. Then his head popped over the side and grinned down at Hope.
"C'mon up pet, the view's amazing." Spike said and Hope sighed heavily. She climbed onto the cement fence, and couldn't help but peer down at the street and took a deep breath before reaching up for the roof, where Spike was crouching over, smiling and urging her up. Hope rolled her eyes and hoisted herself up, grunting slightly as she did so. Spike pulled her up the last little bit and she half fell into his arms.
"Couldn't we have just taken the stairs?" Hope asked, slightly puffed, and also slightly annoyed.
"This is more fun." Spike said and grinned. Hope shot him a look and Spike just took her hand in his and led her along the roof, just past the stairs to a part of the roof that hadn't been visible to them before. Then Hope gasped and all annoyance left her. He had set up a picnic, blankets, basket and all. Hope squeezed Spike's hand and he squeezed right back. Spike led her to the blanket and then sat down on it and patted the spot next to him. She joined him with a smile on her face.
"You did this?" Hope asked, slightly unbelievingly and Spike grinned.
"Yeah." He replied and she smiled at him.
"Just when I think I have you figured out… You go changing on me again, Railroad." Hope said, shaking her head and Spike chuckled.
"I'll take that as a good thing."
"You should." Hope said and they looked at each other silently. Then Spike broke the silence by lying back, folding his arms under his head. Hope moved to his chest and lay her head on him. He smiled gently and stroked the top of her head.
"There's something I have to tell you, pet." Spike said and paused. Hope looked up at him, curiosity in her eyes.
"What is it, Railroad?" She asked, sitting up slightly as she did. He grimaced as she did so, half missing the heat, half nervous about what he was about to say.
"Things, these past few weeks have been… Incredible, to say the least. And, I know what I said before and all, but… Things have changed." Spike said and swallowed hard. Hope felt her stomach sink and interrupted him, tears weighing down on her voice.
"Are you breaking up with me?" She asked and Spike looked at her, shocked.
"What? No! Of course not, pet. I would never… Why would you think that?" He asked, incredulous at the suggestion. Hope felt relief flood her system and shrugged.
"I dunno, it's just… You were giving me the 'It was great while it lasted but it was only a fling' speech." Hope said and was starting to feel silly because of the completely disbelieving look that Spike was giving her.
"Pet," He began softly, "I would never dream of doing that to you. Ever. I could never do anything to hurt you. What I'm trying to say is… I love you."
"I can't do this Railroad," Hope turned away as she said this but then turned back to see his hurt face, "I love you too and I can't help it and I can't stop and I just keep getting deeper and deeper... I'm sorry, but I can't."
"Why not? Why can't you get deeper and deeper? It's part of falling in love." Spike sat up completely and Hope moved to the far side of the blanket.
"Because I'm not ready to. I'm scared." Hope said and Spike reached out to her but withdrew when he saw her flinch.
"I'm not going to hurt you, pet." Spike said, meaning physically as well as mentally.
"I know, but I also know that I'm going to hurt you. Like I did last time. By doing this I'm hurting the person I love sooner rather than later. This way you might actually keep on existing." Hope dropped her gaze and said, quietly, "Unlike last time."
"Hope..." Spike started but Hope cut him off.
"No Railroad, not this time. It'll hurt less this way. Besides, what if Buffy found out? If she finds out there's no telling what might happen." Hope said, it was the one sore spot of the couple and Spike withdrew for a second before coming back with a rebuttal.
"Romeo and Juliet saw each other in secret. Why can't we? That's what we've been doing for the past few weeks." Spike said, grasping at straws.
"We don't have feuding families, we have your ex who happens to be the head Slayer who doesn't know you're alive. Me, who is a slayer who is the twin sister to second in command/rogue slayer and you who is a vampire with a soul who sacrificed yourself to save the world."
"Who cares about the past? Or the present? Or the future? We love each other just like Romeo and Juliet did."
"Yeah and then they killed themselves because of their love."
"Hope..."
"No. Spike," Hope was starting to get teary now, "I promised myself never again and I'm going to keep that promise. I'm so sorry." She went to stand up and then Spike stopped her with a hand on her arm. Her gaze travelled from his hand up his arm to his face. And then he grabbed her gently and kissed her passionately. When they separated Hope touched her lips gently and then looked at him.
"You kiss by the book." Hope said softly and the look of hope on Spike's face disappeared. Hope stood up and started to walk away slowly and paused for a second and risked a look at him, a tear making its way down her cheek, "Come what may, I will always love you, until my dying day." Then she suppressed a sob and ran off, tears coming steadily down her face and sobs shaking her chest.
Spike stood there, in shock. And then he realised that the girl he had fallen for so hard had just broken up with him because she loved him. He stared at the ground and then threw his head backwards and fell forward onto his knees howling.
"Noooo!"
Hope pumped her legs hard, rounding the stairwell and running down it, blindly away from where Spike was kneeling. It was true, it was all true, she loved him and she was scared. Scared of what would happen to him, and to her. She loved him so much and she never wanted to hurt him in the way that she'd hurt the last person she'd loved. That wasn't going to happen. And maybe someday the pain that she'd just caused the both of them would go away.
She reached the street and kept running. She just kept running.
She found a nest of vampires at a nearby cemetery and dusted them quickly. Then she lay down on top of one of the coffins and curled up into a foetal position. Then she hugged herself as tears ran down her face.
"I love you." She whispered, and then she closed her eyes and was asleep.
TBC
This chapter was actually longer but I decided to cut and move it to next chapter… Stay tuned for a moving speech from Faith which is uncomfortably like the one by Xander, not so much in content as context. So yeah.. Hope the chapter of my return from writer's block was alright.
Have a good one
JB
