CH. 2: Vampires and Letters

The minute Buffy heard Giles's exclamation she was on her feet and running towards the door, with Xander and Willow right behind her. For a moment they all just stood there, not saying anything and staring at the brunette that lay on the floor.

It was Xander who broke the silence. "Giles, my man. You sure you don't have ESP or something?" he joked.

Giles looking very bewildered shook his head. "I assure you this is the last thing I expected to happen." He said.

"Well, what do we do now?" Willow asked.

"Xander, hold the door while I carry her in," Buffy said quietly.

She saw Xander exchange uneasy glances with Willow out of the corner of her eye and waited for him to speak up.

"Buffy, I don't think we should do that. She might be dangerous." He said. "We don't we just call the FBI dude and he can come get her?"

"Excuse me?" Buffy said. "The girl is lying there in a pool of her own blood and you're trying to tell me she might be dangerous?"

Xander sighed; he knew there was no arguing with Buffy when she started using that certain tone of voice. He moved back to hold the door open as she carefully picked up Faith and took her inside. He closed the door and followed her into the living room.

"What do you think happened?" Buffy asked Giles, after making sure Faith was settled on the couch.

"As far as I can tell, she's been stabbed but by whom or with what, that I can only guess." He said, taking off his glasses and wiping them absentmindedly.

Buffy nodded, "What are we gonna do now?" she asked.

Giles sighed. "Since taking her to a hospital is out of the question, I'll try and dress her wound the best I can and Willow, it might be helpful if you did a simple healing spell."

Willow gave a quick nod, "I'm on it." She said, going to the cupboard where the magical supplies were.

"Do you want me to do something?" Buffy asked. Please say no; please say no she prayed silently. The sight of all the blood was making her sick not to mention bringing back some unpleasant memories.

Giles must have noticed because he just shook his head and said, "Not at the moment."

Buffy inwardly gave a sigh of relief. "I'll be out on the balcony if you need me."

Giles nodded and Buffy made her way out the room and onto the balcony. She took a deep breath of fresh air. She didn't know why but there was something about being high up and looking down on the sleeping city that relaxed her. And god knows she needed to be relaxed. She had almost upchucked when she saw Faith lying on the floor in a dead faint, blood seeping from the wound in her stomach and her face pale from all the blood loss. Somehow she had looked so vulnerable. Buffy let out a snort. Yeah right, as if, she thought. Vulnerable was the last word anybody would use to describe Faith, Buffy included. But right now Buffy didn't know what to think. When Faith had first started her 'I'm bad' thing, Buffy had wanted nothing more than for the girl to be dead, but when Buffy had actually tried to kill her and had put her in a coma, Buffy wanted her to live. Now that she was out of the coma, she had no idea what she wanted. Buffy sighed and propped her chin in her hands. She gazed at the stars. If only Faith would be sorry for what she had done then everything could go back to normal. But what exactly was normal? She wondered.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Came a voice from the doorway.

"Oh hey Xan," said Buffy trying to smile but failing miserably.

Xander walked to her side. "Thinking about Faith?"

Buffy sighed and ran a finger thru her blonde locks. She wouldn't lie to Xander, she couldn't. He'd see right thru it. "Yeah," She replied softly.

"Buffy what happened was not your fault." He said.

"Do you really believe that?" Buffy scoffed.

Xander was a bit taken back. "Of course I do." He said after a moment's hesitation.

Buffy turned to face him. "Xander, when I left that night I had every intention of killing her, when I plunged that knife into her stomach I knew exactly what I was doing. It was my hands that were stained with her blood." She said, her voice etched with the pain and guilt brought back with the memories.

Xander was quiet for a minute. "Who are you trying to convince Buff?" he asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Buffy demanded.

"Who are you trying to convince you're guilty?" he asked. "Me? Yourself? Or maybe both."

Buffy started to protest but Xander held up a hand. "Just hear me out Buffy. You did what you had to do. You didn't have much of a choice. And don't try to tell me I don't know what you were going thru." He added when he saw Buffy open her mouth to speak. "I may have not have had gone thru what you did but I am one of your best friends and I can read you like a book." He paused. "Okay the last part was a lie."

Buffy shook her head and laughed. "Thanks Xander." She said.

"For all the wonderful advice I gave you?" he asked hopefully.

"No, for making me laugh." Buffy said with a smile.

"That's what I'm here for." Xander said with an exaggerated bow.

Faith groaned as she groggily opened her eyes. She had a stabbing pain in her stomach and a weird feeling of déjà vu. Plus, her muscles felt sore and cramped from sleeping on the couch. Sleeping on the couch? What the hell was she doing on a couch? Before she had a chance to contemplate the thought further, somebody bellowed. "SHE'S AWAKE!" and caused her to jump nearly three feet in the air. She quickly scanned the room for the source and frowned in disgust when she located it. Harris. The idiot. Now thanks to him she had a headache in addition to her already aching muscles and the pain in her stomach and for some reason she couldn't explain she felt nauseous. All in all, Faith was feeling pretty rotten. "You just had to do that." She muttered, sending Xander her most evil glare.

Just then, Buffy, Red and the Watcher entered the room. They all stared at her coldly without saying a word including Harris who had moved from his place on the couch to where his friends stood.

"Well I wasn't exactly expecting a welcome party." Faith said dryly, breaking the ice.

"Cut to the chase, Faith. What the hell do you want?" Buffy asked.

"Nice to see you too, B. and I'm fine, thanks for asking." Faith said sarcastically.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "How cute. Like you actually give a damn." She said. "Now you mind answering my question?"

Faith grinned cockily. "Hmm, let me think about that." She pretended to ponder over the matter. "You know what. I've decided I do mind and I'm not gonna answer."

Faiths had been hoping that by going up against Buffy even if it was only verbally she (Buffy) would get pissed off and lose her temper. Surprisingly, she didn't. She walked over to Faith, bent down, and looked her straight in the eye. There was nothing but disgust, controlled fury and coldness in her eyes and the sight of that alone was enough to make Faith think that maybe wising off to her wasn't the smartest way to get her to cooperate.

"Faith I'm only gonna say this once so listen up. You are here on my turf. When I ask a question you answer, you don't ask any questions, I don't answer any questions. Clear?" she said.

Even though Faith knew she had already pushed Buffy she couldn't help but smirk, give her a mock salute and say, "Yes sir!"

"Obviously not, because you're still acting like a royally screwed bitch," Buffy sighed. "Look, Faith it is obvious that you come to Giles because you need our help with the council and the FBI. Just so you know I will not hesitate to turn you in if you give me the chance to. Now are we clear?" she said.

Faith wanted nothing more than to tell Buffy to go to hell but she knew that Buffy was right. Half of her wondered how Buffy knew about the Council and what the hell she had meant when she said the FBI was hounding her. The other half of her was in a complete state of panic, mostly because for the first time in a long time, she had no idea what to do. If she gave in to Buffy she'd be safe, at least for a while and that would be long enough for her to work something out since she didn't want to be in Buffy's debt forever. But if she didn't, Buffy would probably stay true to her word and Faith would find herself sitting in a rotten cell faster than you could say 'royally screwed bitch'. So Faith swallowed her pride for what she promised herself, was the first time and the last and slowly nodded. She could always get her revenge later.

Buffy appeared satisfied. She walked back to Giles and motioned she wanted a word with him. With only Red and Harris in the room with her, Faith's usual cocky arrogance returned. "I see you guys are missing a couple of people." She noted. "Where's the wolf and Cordy not to mention the other Watcher and Dead Boy?"

Faith saw Red and Harris exchanged uneasy glances.

"What?" said Faith feigning shock. "Don't tell me that the Scoobies broke up?"

"Stuff it, Faith." Xander said with an edge to his voice.

"But why?" she said this time feigning innocence, which probably would've been more effective had she not been smirking. "All I did was ask a question. I was just wondering. I mean, I expected Cordy to be gone the same for the idiot Wesley but the wolf. I thought he'd be around." Faith gave Willow a look of fake pity. "What happened Red, he dump you?"

Willow's eyes seemed to glow for a second and the next thing Faith knew she had fallen off the couch with a very loud thump. She looked up to see Red's triumphant smile.

"Very nice, Will," Xander said his admiration clear in his voice. "I didn't know you could do that."

"Neither did I." Willow admitted.

Buffy who had heard the thump Faith had made when she fell on the floor came running into the room. "What the heck just happened?"

"Faith was being herself and getting on everybody's nerves so Will used her Wicca to push her off the couch." Xander volunteered.

"Actually I levitated her." Willow said, kind of proudly. "It's something I've been working on for a while."

"You did? Willow that's great!" Buffy said, pleased by her friend's actions.

"Not for me." Faith muttered, shakily getting up.

"It was your fault." Buffy retorted.

Faith merely glared at her. Buffy returned her gaze evenly.

"Ahem," Giles cleared his throat, interrupting what would've probably turned into a very long staring contest. "Faith, perhaps you'd like to tell us exactly what happened starting from the moment you woke up."

Faith opened her mouth to say that she wouldn't like to but Buffy had anticipated this. "Giles's just trying to be polite; you don't really have a choice." She said with a smirk looking a lot like Faith had just moments ago.

Faith sighed; this was going to be one helluva long night. For a fraction of a second, she thought about telling them about the dream but then decided against and started with waking up to hear Nigel and Travers's son's conversation. She described their plan in detail and went on to tell them about her escape and finally concluded with her fight with the demons.

"Are you sure that's what they're planning to do?" Buffy asked anxiously once Faith had finished telling her tale.

"Do I have to spell it out for you? The Council wants you dead, B. D-E-A-D," Faith said for what seemed to be the hundredth time.

"Oh my god, you can spell." Xander muttered darkly. He also hadn't taken the news well.

"Watch it, Harris," Faith warned. "I can still kick your ass and I will if you don't stop getting on my nerves."

For once Buffy ignored her. Instead she turned to Giles. "Giles what do you think?"

"I'm not surprised." He admitted. "I always knew that there was a chance that would happen when you decided to leave the Council."

"And you didn't tell me, why?" Buffy gripped.

"I thought it was for the best." Giles said firmly.

"Really?" Buffy said sarcastically. "In what way?"

"It would've distracted you." Giles answered.

"Right. Well, it is very distracting news." Buffy said, turning away from him.

"So you guys will help me?" Faith asked. She hated asking that, but she had to know for sure.

That little fact did not go unnoticed by Buffy who smiled grimly. "it just kills you to say that, doesn't it?"

Faith clenched her teeth. "It's a simple yes or no question, B."

Buffy looked at Giles, and it was obvious this had been discussed before. "Yeah, sure, whatever." Buffy said trying to act nonchalant. "You can stay at Giles's."

Faith looked towards Giles for reaffirmation. "

"Considering the fact Spike has already invaded my home, I don't see why you can't stay here." Giles said with a sigh.

Faith looked at Buffy and mouthed 'Spike?' the name sounded familiar but she wasn't sure where she heard it before. Buffy shook her head and gave her a look that said, 'you don't wanna know and if you do I don't wanna talk about it'. Faith shrugged.

The others started making arrangements and Faith quickly got bored. "Hey people, where's the bathroom, I gotta go take a piss."

Willow and Xander both looked at her with disgust. "You could've left out the last part." Xander said.

"Nah," Faith said with a grin. "The look on G-man's face was worth it."

Giles's face had turned an interesting shade of pink like it always did when some certain issues came up.

"It's down the hall on your left." Buffy answered who, despite herself, was laughing at Giles's expression.

"Down the hall, left," Faith repeated leaping up from the couch. "Ooh, shouldn't do that for a while." She said with a wince.

"You guys," Willow said after Faith had gone. "We forgot to tell her about Spike."

"She'll find out." said Xander.

Two seconds later they heard Faith start swearing than yell, "GILES! B! WHY THE FUCK IS THERE A SLEEPING VAMPIRE IN THE BATHTUB?"

"Not a moment too soon." Xander said with a grin.

Nearly a week later

If somebody had told Buffy a month, even a week ago that Spike and Faith would instantly become really good friends, she would've taken them to the nearest mental hospital. And if somebody had told Faith that she would one day become friends with a vampire, they would've become Faith's new punching bag but that was only if they were lucky.

Faith had to admit Spike was a major hottie, and if it weren't for the fact she didn't screw vampires (She left that to B) they would've been doing the dirty as soon as they met. But after they had met it became obvious that even if he weren't a vampire, they probably wouldn't have had that kind of a relationship because they were meant to be friends.

For some reason Faith couldn't explain she really identified with Spike, it wasn't only the fact that they both were planning to turn Buffy's life into a living hell, which they were and as Faith found out having somebody to plan with was very useful not to mention lots of fun, but that wasn't it. It was the fact that he understood her so well and actually listened to her and contrary to the popular belief he sometimes had good advice, especially if it came to making Buffy's life a mess.

Which was what they were doing on that evening, they were both sitting in the living room, with the curtains tightly drawn coming up with a plan. It probably wouldn't happen but it kept her mind off of other things including her reoccurring dreams.

"So what I was thinking was-" started Spike after taking a long drag from his cigarette.

"Don't tell me you're still trying to think up ways to get back Buffy?" Willow exclaimed coming out of the kitchen. She was the only one of the Scoobies there. It was some unwritten rule between them to never leave their two 'prisoners' alone.

"So what if we are?" Spike replied indignantly. "There's nothing else to do."

"Yes there is." Willow disagreed. "You could watch T.V or read book."

"There's nothing good on T.V!" Spike complained.

"And Red, the last time I picked a book was in grade school." Faith said with an almost apologetic smile.

"Fine! Go back to your planning! See if I care." Willow huffed before heading back to the kitchen.

"As I was saying, I think it would be brilliant if we-" Spike began once again.

This time the phone's ringing interrupted him.

"Would you mind getting that luv, I'm a bit too lazy." Spike said.

"That would be a major understatement if I ever heard one." Faith mumbled.

"Vampire hearing, I can hear you." Spike grinned.

"I know that, I'm not stupid." Faith said.

It was Spike's turn to mutter under his breath. "That I am not so sure about."

"Slayer hearing, Spike." Faith reminded him with a grin of her own. The phone kept ringing.

"Well, whoever's calling must have something urgent to say because it looks like they're not planning to give up." Spike commented. "Better get up and answer it, Fai."

"Do not call me that and why don't you get it?" Faith asked.

"I've already said I'm too lazy."

When it became obvious the caller wasn't going to hang up any time soon, Faith got up in a huff to answer it all the time muttering about 'lazy-ass blondes'.

"Talk." Faith said once she picked it up.

"You know Faith most normal people answer the phone by saying hello, or good morning, or something to that effect." Spike called.

Faith shot him a dirty look. "Well, it's good thing we've already decided that I'm not a normal person, isn't it?" She replied before turning her attention back to the phone. For some reason the person on the other end was very quiet.

"Hey listen if you're just another of those really fucked up people who call other people and start to make weird breathing noises you've picked the wrong person to mess with." Faith said.

"Faith?" the person on the other line said incredulously. Faith recognized the voice but it came as shock and she nearly dropped the phone.

It was Angel. At the same time Faith was hit with the most brilliant idea to get back at Buffy with.

"Oh hey Angel!" said Faith overenthusiastically giving Spike, who looked dumbstruck, a very gleeful look. "How ya been?"

"Fine." He answered automatically. "You're out of the coma?"

"Duh, considering that I'm talking to you and all." Faith said, twirling the cord around her finger.

"And what are you doing at Giles's house?" Angel demanded, starting to get over his shock.

"Well, we are currently having a torrid affair and we decided that it would be easier to get inside each other's pants if we were actually living together." Faith said, with an almost maniacal smile as she perched herself on the coffee table and watched amusedly as Spike choked on the swig of coke he had just taken and started having a coughing fit.

After a few moments of silence, Faith said. "Oh come off it Angel, I was just kidding. I needed a place to crash and Giles's was the only one available and besides did you really think I'd do Giles? The guy is so old and not my type."

More silence. "Angel, you there?" Faith asked.

"I'm just trying to rid my mind of that very disturbing image you gave me." Angel said. "Now if you're done can I speak with Giles?"

"He's not here." Faith said truthfully.

"Oh," Angel sounded surprised and with good reason. His attempted murderer was sitting in the house of one of his, for lack of better words, friends without said friend being there. "Well, can I talk to Buffy then?"

Finally, Faith thought. "She's not around either," said Faith, an inane grin on her face. "She's so busy these days."

Spike looked at her. His look clearly said 'what in the bloody hell are you on about?'. Faith returned his look with one of her own, which said 'you'll see.'

"I understand-"

But Faith wasn't finished yet. "What with the wedding plans and all that crap." She continued. Spike had told her about the and since she knew for a fact that Buffy hadn't told Angel and wasn't planning to, she thought it was the perfect way to get back at her.

Understanding lit up in Spike's eyes and he lunged for the phone. Faith leapt up (her stomach no longer hurt) and danced away from him.

"Wedding?" asked Angel with controlled surprise.

"Oh yeah, she's out looking for a dress for her mom." Faith said casually still trying to get away from Spike.

She could almost feel Angel's relief. "I'm surprised you didn't know. I was sure from how close you and B used to be that she would invite you to her own wedding." Faith said, trying so hard not to laugh. Spike shook his head and mouthed 'brilliant'.

"Buffy's getting married?" Angel asked faintly.

Took you long enough, Faith thought. "Um, yeah, who'd you think I was talking about?" she asked pretending to be puzzled.

Angel ignored her question and asked one of his own. "Who's she marrying?" he growled.

"Spike!" Faith said happily. "Honestly they make the cutest couple! Everybody who sees them together thinks, oops I mean knows they were perfectly made for each other."

"Wait a sec Spike? Spike as in the bleached blonde vampire?"

"He's a fake blonde? How come I never knew that?" Faith asked, momentarily distracted. Spike kicked her in the shin. "Ow! I mean, yes! The one and only."

"How the hell did that happen?" Angel asked and from the tone of his voice Faith was sure he'd morphed into vamp face and was about ready to commit murder.

"Well, Spike proposed to her a few weeks ago and Buffy said yes and they've been together ever since." Faith said who was once again trying to keep the phone away from Spike.

Angel was so gullible when it came to Buffy it hadn't even occurred to him that I might be lying, Faith thought. The same thought was running thru Angel's mind at the moment and he was thinking about hanging up and calling again later. It was very fortunate for Faith that Willow came storming out of the kitchen just then.

"Who in the world did you just tell that to?" Willow demanded with her hands on her hips. "You know Buffy wanted to keep it a secret!"

She couldn't have put it any better. Thanks to being a vampire Angel heard Willow perfectly.

"Give me Willow. Now." he demanded tartly.

"As you wish." Faith said with a smirk. This was just gonna get better. "He wants to talk to you, Red." She gave the phone to Willow and sat down calmly on the couch.

Willow looked at her curiously before talking. "uh, hi."

When she heard the voice, she dropped the phone. "I can't believe you!" she hissed at Faith. "You were talking to Angel? Angel, of all people? He's the last person on the earth Buffy'd want to know."

That was all Angel needed to hear. "YOU MEAN IT'S TRUE? BUFFY GOT ENGAGED TO THAT JERK?"

Willow hastily picked up the phone and held it to her ear, which was completely unnecessary since Angel was bellowing so loud, you could've heard him in China.

"well, technically yes but calm down, she did but she didn't want you to know because-"

"WELL OF COURSE SHE WOULDN'T WANT ME TO KNOW I WOULD'VE STAKED THE ASSHOLE AND THEN DEALT WITH HER."

Seeing that her approach wasn't working, Willow tried another one. "Look it's nothing to get excited about. All they did were some kissy face and a lot of I love yous, nothing major." She said. The minute the words were out of her mouth, Willow knew that is was the wrong thing to say.

"WHAT? I SACRFICE OUR RELATIONSHIP SO SHE CAN LEAD A NORMAL LIFE AND WHAT DOES SHE DO? SHE GETS ENGAGED TO SPIKE!"

"Better believe it, mate." Spike shouted.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING THERE?"

Spike stood up and forcefully took the phone from Willow. "Ello, peaches. Since Giles's is pretty much like a father to my fiancé, that pretty much makes him my future father-in-law, which pretty much makes me initialed to stay at his place." Spike grinned, ducking the objects that were zooming at him from Willow who had given up trying to wrench the phone from his grip.

"SPIKE IF YOU DO ANYTHING TO BUFFY I SWEAR I'LL-"

But what he was going to do, nobody found out because at that moment Willow pulled out the phone plug.

"Why'd you do that Red, you ruined my fun." Spike said disapprovingly.

"Who the hell gives a damn about your fun! You just about ruined Buffy's life!" Willow shrieked on the verge of hysterics. "How am I going to explain this to her?"

But her cries of outrage feel on deaf ears. Faith and Spike were too busy laughing which made Willow even madder.

"This is not funny!" Willow shouted her face getting red, which clashed horribly with her hair. "When Buffy comes home you two are so dead! She'll kill you, dance on your grave, and then revive you so she could kill you again! After that she's gonna – EEK!" Willow screamed as something flew in from the window and landed on her hair.

This made Faith jump up in surprise and only made Spike laugh even harder.

"What the-" Faith muttered.

"Get it off me! Get it off me!" Willow continued screaming.

Apparently it was an owl that landed in her hair. The owl flew off her head with a hoot and appeared offended. Strangely enough it was carrying what appeared to be a letter. On instinct, Faith walked over and took it off his leg.

"Wiggy." Faith said when she saw it was addressed to her. It even stated where she slept. How much they creepy was that?

She tore open the envelope and took out the paper. Or at least she thought it was paper, it was stiff and heavier than normal paper. She started reading the contents and was so mesmerized, she didn't notice when the owl flew out the window. She stared at the paper in disbelief and except for muttered curses every now and then didn't say anything. She read the paper again and again but she still couldn't come to terms with what it said. She looked up dazedly.

"You okay Fai?" Spike asked worriedly, having finally stopped laughing when he saw the expression on her face.

"Five by five." Faith said mechanically, still in shock. "Look, I'm gonna go out. I need some air."

By now Spike was very worried, she hadn't snapped at him when he had called her Fai. That definitely meant something was up. "Faith, you can't go out, it's not safe."

"Oh yeah," Faith challenged charging towards the door. "Just watch me." She opened the door and closed it behind her with a slam.

"What just happened here?" Willow asked slowly.

"I don't know but I sure as hell know it has something to do with that." He said nodding towards the paper that had fallen out of Faith's hands.