The Fire in Her Eyes by Imrryr
Act 1 – Chapter 3
...
"For in spite of language, in spite of intelligence and intuition and sympathy, one can never really communicate anything to anybody. The essential substance of every thought and feeling remains incommunicable, locked up in the impenetrable strong-room of the individual soul and body. Our life is a sentence of perpetual solitary confinement."
- Aldous Huxley
...
Sunnydale. May 2nd, 2000.
...
If this was another dream, it was a particularly shitty one.
Faith had no time to find her bearings before she collapsed onto the hardwood floor, clutching her stomach in agony. "Son of a bitch," she muttered, barely suppressing the desire to vomit as a heavy coat was quickly thrown over her. It was only then that she realized she was completely naked.
Slightly less surprising was the sound of Giles' familiar reserved voice, "Unfortunately, one of the side-effects of the teleportation spell is a profound sense of vertigo. It should soon pass."
"Teleportation spell," Faith repeated over the ringing in her ears, her eyes screwed shut again as she willed the world to stop spinning, "And my clothes?"
"That... was not supposed to happen."
"Good to know," she grumbled as she pushed herself to her knees. A circle of salt and evenly spaced candles surrounded her on the floor. Giles must've learned some new tricks while she was away.
After one last bout of coughing, the roiling in her stomach calmed enough for Faith to rise warily to her feet, covering her naked body with Giles' oversized coat while struggling to maintain some semblance of dignity. Every day she had to shower in front of dozens of other inmates and get patted down by the skeevy prison guards. If she had any modesty before, it was completely gone by now, but still, there was no reason why some old watcher dude should get a peek.
Then she looked up and discovered that her audience consisted of a lot more than just Giles.
There she was, Buffy Summers, in the flesh, leaning against the wall, her expression completely unreadable. Her face and hands were crossed with cuts and marred with faint bruises, and there was a bad wound over her right eye. Faith had looked like that once, right after her first encounter with Kakistos. Their eyes met, but Buffy didn't scowl, or sneer, or do anything that Faith expected her to do. She just stared back blankly.
It was incredibly unnerving.
Meanwhile, Willow, Willow's girlfriend What's-her-face, and some other blonde-haired chick she didn't recognize were all sitting on the couch together, watching, and waiting, and judging.
Wonderful. What was this, the world's most overdue intervention?
Faith dropped into an easy-chair and wrapped the coat more tightly around herself. She frowned. The chair smelled like the coat, musty, like it belonged in a library. And who knows, perhaps Giles had fished it out of the ruins of the Sunnydale High library himself. That would help explain all the damaged books he had stacked against the walls of his living room.
"Glad you could join us," he said with the faintest hint of a smile, somehow managing to sound like he meant it.
Willow, on the other hand, looked as though she was trying to crush Faith's head with her mind. "That makes one of us."
Thankfully, Giles continued as if she wasn't even there, "I don't think you've met Tara and Anya," he said, gesturing to the couch.
Faith waved half-heartedly. She vaguely recalled meeting, and insulting, Tara once before while in Buffy's body. Anya she didn't recognize at all, but there was something about her that sent Faith's slayer senses off - not at vamp or demon levels, or anything - but there was definitely something unusual about her; or in other words, she was another perfect addition to Buffy's little circle of misfits.
Meanwhile, as she leaned against the wall looking like she'd rather be anywhere else, Buffy remained thankfully silent as Giles inexplicably handed Faith a mug of tea... Faith, the girl who had tried to ruin all their lives. She wanted to laugh at how awkward this all was, but yeah, that probably wouldn't go over well. "So..." she drawled before taking a sip, "what's going on?"
Willow huffed, with an eye roll added in for good measure, while Giles sat down calmly in the chair opposite, cup in hand. "We have a bit of a situation here, and could use your help."
Ah, so that was it. Not even a murder rap could keep her from being called up to help Buffy and her friends. Awesome.
Unwanted memories of last year flashed through her mind, but Faith did her best not to let her irritation show. If the Scoobies wanted her to do their dirty work and then forget all about her afterwards, just like old times, who was she to argue? She could do it for the rest of her life and still not make up for the all the wrongs she'd committed.
"All right," Faith said with a sigh. "What do you want me to do?"
Giles slipped easily into watcher-mode, explaining just what had happened over the past several months. Faith knew bits of it already, from those few days immediately following her waking from her coma, but evidently the situation was far more serious than she had assumed. There was a monster out there, a Frankenstein-type creature assembled from the most deadly bits of all the most powerful demons Sunnydale had to offer. She had to give the hellmouth credit; it certainly knew how to keep upping the ante.
"So, I help you guys with this spell, Buffy gets some kind of crazy slayer power, and Adam dies?"
"Put succinctly, yes," Giles said.
She frowned in thought, "I don't really know anything about magic."
"That won't be a problem, I assure you."
"Okay," Faith drawled, "but what about the prison?" The clock on the wall now read 11:17. "In about forty-five minutes the midnight watch is going to realize I'm not in my cell."
Giles nodded in understanding. "I've procured someone at considerable expense to take your place," he said, which earned him a glare from Willow.
Faith blinked. Was it her, or did Giles' plan sound kind of ridiculous? More ridiculous than usual, at any rate. "I don't really see how that's gonna work, G-man." Unless this replacement was her long lost twin, people were bound to notice the difference. Her fellow prisoners weren't nearly as oblivious as the average Sunnydale resident.
Giles stood up, "Our solution is a rather novel one actually," he said, making his way to the stairwell. He called upstairs, "You really should come down now."
Faith froze when she heard an answering grunt. There was something familiar in the voice. Turning in her seat, her mouth dropped open at the sight of herself awkwardly descending the stairs, dressed in a flannel shirt and ill-fitting jeans. She grimaced. This was a little too much like her experience in Buffy's body, and Buffy looked just as unhappy about it.
"Xander has volunteered to take your place," Giles explained. At Faith's even more bewildered look he elaborated, "We put a glamour spell on him."
It was a struggle not to simply dismiss the idea out of hand. "So, Xander is going to replace me?" Seriously, Xander, in prison? He wouldn't last five minutes. "No offense, but this idea of yours isn't exactly sane."
"Well, you'd know all about that," Buffy muttered from across the room.
Faith looked down at her hands. She'd walked right into that one.
Giles was busy cleaning his glasses, "I admit, this plan is somewhat inelegant but I would rather not have to worry about the police while we're trying to take care of the much larger problem."
She sighed. It went unsaid that she was going right back to prison when all this was over. Freedom – even for just a day - was better than nothing, but she had to ask, "Why not just get Angel to help or something?"
Giles crossed his arms. "We have a solution, but it requires you, not Angel."
Faith frowned. She detected something akin to bitterness in the man's tone. Too proud to ask for the big guy's help, perhaps? Buffy's expression was still unreadable. Sure, she had moved on – and was presumably still dating Riley, though he didn't seem to be here at the moment - but Faith just had to wonder what went through B's mind whenever the subject of Angel came up.
She turned to Xander, who was still standing at the foot of the stairs looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Prison's no picnic. You sure you wanna do this, Xan-Man?"
He shrugged, but it was Willow who spoke, "No one wants to do any of this, and no one wants you here either!"
Faith's eyes narrowed. She would take shit from Buffy all day and night, but Willow was a different story entirely.
Giles, however, put an end to everything before the situation boiled over. "Enough. This is the only way we can succeed. We must all put aside our differences for the common good. We can't afford to wait for the Council, or the covens, or the Army to come and defeat Adam. We must do it ourselves, and as quickly as possible." Everyone in the room froze, surprised by his outburst.
"And what's to keep her from just skipping town?" Willow asked into the silence.
In answer, Giles walked across the room to a rather unassuming nightstand in the far corner. Like everything else, it had books stacked on it. Fishing a key out of his pocket, he opened the small drawer and pulled out two nearly identical silver chain necklaces. Hanging from each was an oval pendant; one of red crystal, and the other blue. As he returned with them, it was clear that the two pendants were each glowing faintly with their own light. Magic seemed to pour off them. Faith didn't even need to open her eyes to know that. She could sense it.
"Faith. These necklaces cannot be taken more than a hundred yards from one another. If you're willing, I will give one to you and one to Buffy."
He offered Faith the red one, which she took, immediately surprised by its weight. "How do these things work, exactly?" she asked, turning the heavy pendant over in her palm. It was a unique experience, to say the least, and felt like holding a piece of molten rock that was somehow still cold to the touch. When she stared deeply into its smooth, fiery surface she could make out what appeared to be words trapped inside. However, every time it seemed like she might be able to read something, the words would melt away only to be replaced with new ones.
Only Giles' cough, and the realization that everyone was staring at her, kept Faith from spending the next half-hour getting lost in it.
"The red necklace gives an incapacitating shock to the wearer whenever the blue necklace is out of range," he said.
'Oh, right.' Somewhat reluctantly, Faith handed the necklace back to him. "So, Buffy's my P.O. and this is my ankle monitor. Got it."
It was obvious that no one in the room understood what she was talking about, and Giles slipped the necklace over her head without comment. The instant it fell around her neck, Faith felt a brief wave of magic rush over her. It was like walking out of a cold, dank tomb and into the warm light of the sun. For something that was meant to be a magical leash, it felt surprisingly pleasant.
Xander asked what was on everyone's mind, but fuck was it ever weird to hear him speaking in her voice, "Wait. Can't she just take it off?"
Giles shook his head as he gave the second necklace to Buffy. The woman took it in her hand and actually smiled as its blue light shone on her face, seemingly just as enthralled by it as Faith had been. As B slipped the necklace over her head, Faith felt that magical rush again. For just a split second, Buffy locked eyes with her, like maybe she had felt it too.
"Faith," Giles said, "I hate to ask this, but could you please try to remove your necklace?"
Nodding suspiciously, Faith reached for it and the instant the tip of her finger touched the chain a burning shock shot straight up her arm. "Son of a bitch!" she cried as the muscles in her arm turned to jelly and she fell out of her chair. Every nerve ending felt like it was on fire. Fuck, was it ever painful.
Satisfied, Willow leaned back on the couch and actually smiled, the bitch. Buffy just looked at her feet, one hand on the pendant around her neck.
"Once activated, the red necklace can only be removed by me. Just keep yours on, Buffy, and Faith will be unable to touch either the necklace or your person."
Faith slinked back into her chair. She had to hand it to the G-Man; he had really thought this one through.
Anya looked ready to fall asleep, but Willow's girlfriend was sitting up, intrigued by it all. "How did you make those, Mister Giles?"
"Well, I had to improvise. I combined a protection spell with an ancient bonding ritual."
"A bonding ritual?" Willow repeated, her brow furrowed.
Giles was nervously watching the clock; it was getting closer to midnight. "I can describe the process later, if you like."
The strange Xander/Faith hybrid appeared to still be confused though. "Why does it only hurt when she touches it with her hand?"
Stifling a yawn, Giles waved his question away.
"So," Faith began a little reluctantly, as she tried to shake the remaining tingles out of her arm, "I take part in this ritual thing, and what exactly is supposed to happen?" Nothing exceptionally painful or disorienting, she hoped.
"Well, after the words have been spoken, our powers should combine and enter Buffy. She will then use those powers to defeat Adam as quickly as she can."
"There a time-limit or something?"
"Yes. I'm not sure how long the effects of the spell will last."
"I can't believe we're going through with this," Buffy muttered.
Again, there was that uncomfortable silence. There was a whole lot of judging going on this room, and with the exception of Giles, and maybe Tara, everyone looked like they expected Faith to do... something. Whether that something was for her to start throwing punches, or try bolting for the door, she didn't know. Either one sounded good right about now.
Again Faith sighed. "I'll do whatever you guys want me to do."
Buffy's narrowed eyes said it all: what she wanted was for Faith to leave and never come back.
"Very good then," Giles said as he poured himself another cup of tea, seemingly oblivious to the tension all around him.
"So, when do we do this?" Faith asked.
"Once we send Xander through the gate, Willow, Tara, and I will go someplace quiet for the day to recharge our magical energies."
"Ooh, the Channel Islands?" Tara suggested.
Willow perked up, "French Polynesia?"
Giles sighed. "I was thinking more along the lines of the woods north of town."
"Oh… darn," Willow said, smiling at Tara before seeming to remember that there was not just one but two Faiths in the room. Then it was back to the scowling.
"We'll be ready to attempt the ritual on Thursday, if all goes well."
If this were last year, Faith would've made some off-color remark about Giles wanting some alone time with two girls half his age, but there was no way in hell she was doing that now. This whole room was giving off some serious keep-your- mouth-shut vibes.
"What am I supposed to do while you're gone?" Buffy asked.
"Look for any sign of Adam's whereabouts, but for the love of God, do not engage him."
Buffy pushed herself off the wall and nodded firmly. "I can do that."
Giles turned his attention to the salt-outlined circle lying in front of his television, using a large brush to reshape the bits that Faith had accidentally mussed up. "Oh, and Buffy?" The slayer stopped just as she put her hand on the doorknob. "Take Faith with you."
...
Faith rubbed her ear. She'd never heard the word 'what' shouted with such intensity before.
It hadn't exactly been pleasant to sit there like a prisoner awaiting sentencing while Buffy and Willow rattled off a long list of reasons why Faith couldn't be trusted to step so much as a foot outside: she had tried to pin the death of the deputy mayor on Buffy, she'd helped Mayor Wilkens with his plans to ascend and then destroy the town and everyone in it, she had tried to strangle Xander, she'd almost killed Angel, she had murdered an innocent man... If they'd had more time they might've even gotten to the stuff she'd done after waking from her coma, but for some damn reason Giles stopped them. Why the old man was so quick to come to her defense, Faith didn't know. He didn't owe her shit.
Eventually, Buffy had to be reminded that Adam's dream was to create an entire army of demons, and he'd already had two whole days to get started.
Faith, meanwhile, kept silent and didn't so much as look up from the floor. She had long been used to stepping into rooms only to find everyone completely displeased to see her. Back then she couldn't have given a fuck what anyone thought, but of course things had changed.
Now she actually did care, but every moment of this brief trip outside prison walls only served to remind her of the myriad things she had done wrong in her life. Even with a magical leash tethering her to her sister-slayer, the old Faith would've reveled in this kind of freedom, likely being torn between finding a way to escape and using her forced close proximity to Buffy to mess with the girl's mind.
Faith sure as fuck wasn't reveling in this though. Here she was, quietly tagging along with someone who hated her guts. The one girl in all the world who had the most reason to want her dead.
At least Giles had been kind enough to give her some of the clothes she'd left behind in her old apartment. Her old leather boots fit like a second skin, so much better than those floppy, prison issued slippers she'd been wearing the past few months. However, her plain white shirt and leather pants were another story. Unfortunately, the prison didn't dole out extra portions to someone with a slayer's metabolism.
But hey, it still beat those ugly-ass prison jumpsuits.
Meanwhile, silently and resentfully, Buffy led the way across town to Rosefield Cemetery. Even for a typical Sunnydale weeknight, the streets were quiet and it didn't take long to figure out why; vampires and demons were lurking behind practically every parked car and telephone booth, escapees from Adam's grand melee.
Buffy made short work of them, which was a good thing, because while all the old moves came back naturally to Faith, much of her usual strength was decidedly absent.
Not having a stake didn't help much either, but at least Faith was able to improvise by snapping off a branch.
Meanwhile, Buffy fought with a silent mix of anger and frustration that Faith found a little disturbing, and by the time they were finished with Rosefield, they left for the next cemetery with several downed trees and one toppled tombstone to mark their presence.
Buffy was really letting loose, and admittedly it would've actually been pretty damn hot had Faith not been busy fearing for her life. She'd always had a weakness for Buffy being all sweaty and out of breath, but right now the wild-eyed slayer looked like she might snap at any second, throw Faith against a tree, and stake her like the twenty-some vamps she'd already dealt with.
So, for self-preservation purposes, Faith was keeping her distance, or rather trying to, but Buffy seemed intent on keeping Faith constantly in her sights. And since she had no intention of running away - besides, another test of her necklace's power? Holy shit. She'd fucking pass on that – it all just meant that Buffy was doing a lousy job of looking out for the various creatures of the night. Faith had already been forced to warn B of approaching vamps more than once.
She wondered, if Adam were to show, just who would Buffy be more wary of?
"Why'd you do it?"
Faith nearly tripped over her own feet. "Do what?" she asked, again stopping as Buffy stopped, taking care to keep her distance.
"Why'd you turn against us? Against me?"
Faith swallowed. That wasn't a question that could be easily answered. "I - I don't know, B." It was partly the truth, but still a cop-out and Buffy knew it.
Her expression turned red hot in a flash, and suddenly she was up in Faith's face. "Giles gave me some sob story; trying to say it was our fault you went crazy, something about a broken home or whatever. Poor little Faith, if only we had loved her-"
Faith clenched her fists at her sides, but she didn't flinch or step back.
"- Like that excuses your murdering ways, or your stealing my body so that I could take the Council's punishment for you."
There were a million things Faith could've said in response; she could've tried describing just how alienated she felt even in the days when they were sort of friends, how Buffy kept secrets from her all the time, how she hated the jealous looks Willow would always give her… but it all just sounded so completely pathetic.
The fact was, the mere thought of her sister-slayer it a fire in Faith's belly so strong she hadn't a clue how to deal with it. Never had she wanted anything as much as she had wanted Buffy. It was scary, and to be honest, it was still scary. A year later and that feeling was still there, tearing at her insides whenever she so much as looked at the woman.
And when it became perfectly clear that Buffy would never, could never, be interested in someone like her, Faith burnt it all down, destroying any hope that they could ever be friends again. Push Buffy away and it all wouldn't hurt so much, right?
But when B then went after the mayor, what was she supposed to do? Let her kill the only person who cared for her? So, fine, she'd thought; B hurts you, you hurt her back. Revenge; that was something she easily understood. And when Faith would look into Buffy's eyes and those old feelings immediately resurfaced, well, she'd just keep reminding herself of the woman's mistakes while doing her best to forget her own. Everyone did it, right? How else could people live with themselves when they fucked up?
Except, yeah, it was a horrible thing to do and Buffy hadn't deserved any of it.
What had Faith even wanted from her? Sex? Friendship? Love? Fuck, she didn't know. Looking into those same green eyes now, Faith felt a hundred different confusing emotions - anger, love, jealousy, lust - just as if not a single day had passed since the night they first met. 'Fuck. You make me crazy, B.'
She didn't dare say it.
Back in LA, similar words had been on her lips as she tortured Wesley - 'You made me this way' - and at the time, she'd believed every word. Wesley, Angel, Buffy, they all deserved everything she'd done to them. It was their fucking fault. Self-righteous fury; that's what got her through her darkest days.
Fucking bullshit.
Every single one of those tired old excuses rang hollow in her ears now.
In the end, Faith was left with the same dilemma she'd been struggling with since that night in LA. There was nothing she could say to Buffy; no words that could ever come remotely close to excusing all she had done. Maybe she should stop trying to find them. Words like that simply didn't exist.
So, what could she say? Only one thing came to mind.
She opened her mouth only to shut it immediately. 'Apologize to me and I will beat you to death,' Buffy had said. It wasn't something Faith would forget for as long as she lived.
Buffy laughed in her face, as if she were reading her mind. "So, that's really it, huh? You had a bad childhood so you're not responsible for anything you did?"
Fists clenched to the point of drawing blood, Faith narrowed her eyes but refused to move. If Buffy wanted to go to town on her, she was welcomed to.
They stood there, staring each other down for the longest time, the world around them completely forgotten. It wasn't easy maintaining eye contact with Buffy, but Faith did it nonetheless. Old habits die hard. You don't show weakness to your enemy. And maybe Buffy wasn't her enemy, but that certainly wasn't how the blonde woman saw things.
Finally, B snapped. "Answer me, dammit!" she shouted, grabbing Faith by the upper arm, triggering a bright flash of light from their twin pendants. In that instant Faith was seized by the worst pain she had ever experienced; much, much worse than being stabbed in the gut with her own knife. The next thing she knew, she was face down in the dirt, screaming and clawing at the ground, her muscles burning in ways she hadn't thought possible.
Through the searing pain, it was all Faith could do to keep from crying. She'd expected more, for Buffy to kick her when she was down, but when she finally rolled onto her back, B was just standing over her, her arms crossed, and her face again an unreadable mask. Faith stared back in a mixture of shock and terror, heart pounding like mad. Finally, Buffy shook her head and turned away. Her voice was so very quiet, yet every word cut like a knife, "I wish I had never met you."
As the blonde stalked off, Faith sat there in the dirt, breathing heavily. Buffy should've just grabbed her arm again. That would've hurt a lot less.
With Faith not-so-closely at her side, the two slayers fought vamps and demons for several more hours until practically every muscle in Buffy's body ached, no longer with the pain of her last confrontation with Adam, but with normal exertion. Well, normal for a slayer at any rate. It was a little like the old days, only without Faith's constant baiting and sexual innuendos.
Faith wasn't exactly saying much of anything, to be honest.
She certainly appeared to be more in control of herself these days, but like everything else involving Faith it was probably just an act; an attempt to get Buffy to let her guard down or to mess with her head in some new and unique way.
After all their history together, and her recent experience of being played the fool by Spike, Buffy wasn't buying it.
Still, in the less important outwardly way, Faith had changed. Gone was the makeup, and the dark lipstick she preferred to wear. Her old clothes didn't fit as well either, and despite it all, Buffy found herself disturbed by just how thin she looked now. Faith also kept her eyes locked on the ground at all times, dragging her tired feet as she walked and looking decidedly gloomy while doing so.
The sight was disconcerting, and not in the way Faith's mere presence used to make her feel ages ago, back when such disconcerting feelings were actually kind of welcome. It hadn't just been the joy of fighting alongside someone who actually understood her messed-up life, though that was definitely nice, but more the way being with Faith always led to the unexpected. Faith was always pushing her, always daring her to step out of her comfort zone.
When she arrived at the beginning of Buffy's senior year, Faith had given her something she hadn't known she wanted. With her sister slayer, Buffy found someone who could always keep up with her, someone who was fun, someone who always treated her like an equal... someone, sadly, quite unlike her boyfriend, Riley.
And fighting side by side with Faith had been fun, but in typical Buffy Summers fashion, their most memorable night together turned quickly into a nightmare.
And it had been a constant nightmare ever since.
She sighed as she marched quickly ahead of Faith. Those days were over, never to return, and an unsettling feeling of loss hit her whenever she so much as looked at the other girl now. Life was so much easier when Faith was out of sight.
Glancing over her shoulder, she could see Faith grasping her shoulder as she struggled to keep up. Giles had said that Faith couldn't so much as touch her without being wracked with serious pain, but that warning had honestly been the last thing on her mind when she'd angrily grabbed the younger woman's arm a few hours ago.
And it struck her then that the sight of Faith crumpled on the ground and whimpering in pain hadn't given her the sense of triumph she'd long expected. Instead, the only thought on her mind afterwards was, 'You're better than this.'
As Buffy walked on, she kicked a stone in anger and sent it flying over the cemetery wall.
Sometimes she wondered what was happening to her. She'd been a slayer for five years, spending night after night battling with demons and the undead. What if her nocturnal activities were affecting her in ways too subtle to notice? Would she even recognize the girl who had moved to Sunnydale four long years ago, the girl who only dreamed of living a normal life and maybe doing some cheerleading after school?
Lately, she'd been plagued by self-doubt and this growing sense of impending doom, like she hadn't long to live. Some nights it seemed like the only thing on her mind was death, and for too long she'd been having really bad dreams; falling to her death, a city in flames, dragons, and worse things besides. Did this happen to every slayer who endured their calling as long as she had? Did they all lose their minds after years spent alone with only demons and the undead for company?
Buffy frowned. Maybe she should've dropped Psych 101 when she had the chance.
The more immediate question was what to do with Faith until they needed her again. The college dorms were off-limits and she couldn't just drop her off at Giles' house either, not with this damned magical leash. Besides, Buffy wasn't particularly keen on spending a night on his sofa.
In the end, she found herself walking down Revello Drive just as dawn began to break. At least at her mom's she'd have her old bed to sleep on.
Unexpectedly, the front door opened just as she was about to put the key in the lock. Joyce stood there, dressed for work and not looking especially surprised to see her. "Mom? You're awake?"
"Mister Giles left a message on the machine. Something about unexpected visitors," she said, a tiny smile forming on her lips.
Buffy swallowed nervously. "You know about Faith then?"
Joyce nodded.
"I - I'm sorry. I couldn't think of any place to take her, and with all the things going on -"
"Things?" Joyce repeated.
"Uh, yeah. You remember what happened at graduation?"
Her mom's eyes went wide. "Again? I knew I should've voted for the other guy."
"No, no. No mayor this time. It's just, there's another potentially town-destroying scenario playing out," Buffy said lamely. She always felt a little odd telling her mother about slayer business, like maybe one day she would just snap and have her sent to an asylum.
That feeling would've probably been a little less pronounced if her mom and dad hadn't already done that once before when she was fifteen.
"Oh... I see," Joyce said, in a way that indicated she didn't, not really anyway.
"You should really leave until all this blows over."
"Buffy, if I left every time there was a demonic emergency in this town, I'd lose my job. Unless... do you think I'm in danger specifically?"
Would Adam target her mom? It didn't really seem like his style. "No. He... Adam... he doesn't consider anyone a threat at this point," she said, her voice wavering a little.
Joyce seemed to consider the meaning behind the words and noticeably paled. Then, without warning, she wrapped Buffy up in a tight hug.
Buffy squeezed her back. "I'm so sorry, Mom. I should come by more... and not just to do laundry."
"It's all right. We can make up for it later," Joyce said before pulling away slowly.
"Have you been waiting for us all night?"
"Oh, no," Joyce said, checking her watch. "I have to get the gallery ready. We've got an important shipment of African art coming in this morning."
Buffy nodded dully. Whatever had kept her going through for the past several hours was definitely wearing off. She yawned. Another night spent slaying, and this time with her mortal enemy in tow. Ugh. Worst freshman year ever.
"In fact," Joyce continued, "we could use some volunteers to move all the crates."
'Oh, crap. Think, Buffy, think!' "I have finals to study for!" she blurted out much too loudly, startling her mother for a second before her lips curved into a knowing smile. Thank God for class work. That old excuse had gotten her out of unpaid grunt work at the gallery more times than she could count.
Joyce sighed, "All right, all right." Scanning the porch, she frowned. "And where is Faith?"
"Over there," Buffy said, looking over her shoulder to find her arch nemesis leaning against a tree in the front yard, arms crossed and dark eyes staring at the grass at her feet, looking as sullen and haunted as ever.
Bizarrely, her mom's answering frown seemed directed more at her than at Faith, the girl with the annoying habit of ruining everyone's lives. "Well," she said, pushing the door open, "invite her in."
AN – Poor Faith :c Don't worry, Buffy won't hate her forever.