Thanks for all the kind reviews. Sorry there's a delay with the updates. The stories I'm working on aren't that compatible, and trying to alternate between them isn't easy for me. Please let me know what you think about this installment - ml
Chapter 3
"And that's just about it," Xander said as he finished his summary of Slayer 101 for Faith. They had gone back to Faith's apartment and she had cleaned up and changed. Her injured ankle was already healed. Now, the two were sitting in a Waffle House, and Faith was going through food like only a mystical being could.
"So, what do I get paid?" Faith asked as she attacked her second plate of eggs.
"What?" Xander asked, not following her non sequitur.
"Hey, if I'm a superhero, I should be paid. I mean, I could play tennis or basketball and totally kick ass. I could make that Anna chick look like a sick loser. So why should I give up millions of dollars just to kill demons and die young?" Faith stopped talking as the waitress brought another plate of waffles and refilled her drink.
"Uh, you do know that if the world ends, that pretty much will include you?" Xander replied once the waitress had left.
"Yeah, but like you said, you already got one Slayer. From the way you explained things, the old Watchers would have killed me in a second if I didn't play with them. But you guys say things are different – all touchy feely. So I could just leave, and there's nothing you could do about it."
"Faith, trouble will find you, just like that vampire did last night. You'll need training if you want to survive."
"I hope they got somebody better than a one-eyed soldier boy to help me stay alive," Faith said. She was curious to see what Xander would do if she pushed him.
Faith was surprised when Xander laughed. "They have better guys than me, believe me. We have the Slayer, a friendly werewolf, and a vampire with a soul. And if you get too cocky, we'll just let you play with Willow."
"You expect me to be afraid of a tree? What are you going to do, spank me? That costs extra, even uptown."
"Willow is my best friend. She's a wiccan." Seeing Faith's puzzled expression, Xander clarified, "That's a witch. Somebody hurt someone she loved once. She tore his skin off and set him on fire."
Faith's jaw dropped. What kind of strange world was she getting involved in? "Was that when you lost your eye?"
Xander couldn't help turning his face to shield Faith's sight from his wound. "No, that was just a psycho preacher who wanted to hurt my friends."
"So if all your friends are so strong and you're not, why are you out saving the world, not playing pirate or something?"
Again, Xander refused to rise to the bait. After all, he had spent his teen-age years fighting and loving Cordelia Chase. He had been tested against the best. "For a long time, I thought I was useless," Xander admitted. That guy who took my eye, in a strange way, he let me understand that I had a gift."
"We talkin' short bus kind of gifted?" Faith smirked.
The humor left Xander's expression. The change made Faith back up in the booth. "You should be careful what you say to people," Xander said. "In the words of the psycho, I'm 'the one who sees.' When things are at their worst, I come up with the plan. When people are at their worst, I know what they need."
"Oh yeah," Faith blustered. "Well, I don't need anything."
"You need more than anyone I've ever met," Xander said evenly. "When you were younger, you felt powerless. Well, that's been taken care of. I can only guess about your upbringing, but some of it would be pretty familiar to me, I bet. Here you are being asked to save humanity when damn few people have shown any humanity to you."
Xander took a breath and continued. "You were probably laughed at when you were a kid because you didn't have the right clothes. You want people to accept you and to belong, but deep down you feel they're just using you. I'm pretty sure it's going to take a long time for you to trust anyone. That's going to be a problem, because even the strongest of us need help sometimes." Xander paused and looked at Faith. "So, how am I doin' so far?"
Faith was a little spooked that this guy could tell all that from only speaking to her for a half hour or so. She suddenly felt more naked than she did for most of her tricks. "Wh..Whatever. You practicing for an appearance on Oprah or something?"
"Nope," Xander said, his grin reappearing. "It's Springer or nothing. I like my psychology with breaks for violence."
Faith giggled in spite of herself. That eased the tension between them, and enabled the Slayer to finish the last of her waffles in peace. Once she was done, she looked at Xander and asked. "So, what do ya want?"
"Well, I want you to come to England for training. You'll meet the folks at the Council, learn how to use your gifts, and how to stay alive. If we can't convince you that what we do is worth your time, I guess you can walk. You won't be the first to leave the calling."
"So, have there been any, like, you know, famous Slayers?" Faith asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.
"You know, I never thought of that, but you'd think that at least some of them would have made the papers over the years. Back where I came from, we were on a hellmouth…" Seeing Faith's stare, Xander continued. "Mystical gateway between this reality and demon central. Bad times all around. Anyway, there, people just tended to blank on things like vampires and demons, even when they were attacked. You can ask Giles if any Slayers were like famous queens or something."
"Giles? That the head guy, right?"
"Yeah," Xander said. "He really likes it when you call him G-man, though."
"Oh, okay. Kind of a strange thing for a grownup to call himself."
Xander decided to end the joke quickly, "Actually, it's a nickname I gave him that he kinda hates." Seeing the girl frown at him, Xander tried to defend himself. "He would have known I asked you to do it. It would have been funny."
"Yeah, right," Faith growled.
Xander thought to himself, "The Watcher who gets this one will really be earning his salary." He put on what he hoped was a very sincere look and said. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just one of the few perks I have is giving Giles a hard time. So, will you at least come to London? We really are the good guys, and we can help you stay alive…If you decide to come back to Baltimore, we'll do what we can for you."
Faith only hesitated for a moment. "I got some stuff to pick up at my place."
"I'll go with you, if it's okay."
Faith shrugged. Xander paid the check and they stopped at a shop and bought Faith a suitcase. On route to her apartment, Xander used his cell phone to make reservations for a flight to London.
Faith's apartment was small and the walls were thin. The sound of couples enthusiastically agreeing reverberated in the room, causing Xander to turn red and Faith to shrug. Xander called London and got an update on Buffy and Spike's pursuit of Kakistos from Cordelia.
While her new council contact chatted on the phone, Faith packed her belongings. Mostly they consisted of a leather jacket, clothing that would cause Giles to polish a hole in the lenses of his glasses, and music CDs that Spike would probably steal. Xander deflected questions from Cordy about the new Slayer. He watched Faith pack and made a mental note to try to get the girl some more conservative clothes at the airport. It might make things a little better when she met the others.
Faith was soon ready to leave and Xander was wrapping up his conversation with Cordelia when the front door to Faith's apartment splintered. In rushed Faith's pimp, Myron, and several of his thug friends. Myron, who Xander had met the previous evening, had on a long duster and a held a pipe in his hands. Three of the guys had switchblades showing. They probably had other weapons as well.
Xander spoke into the phone, "Get Willow," before breaking the connection and coming to Faith's side.
"You think you could mess with me, bitch?" Faith's pimp yelled. "And what the hell are you doing here with the soldier boy? He gonna protect you now?
"I can protect myself, Myron." Faith sneered. Several of the guys laughed.
"Don't call me Myron. The name is Blade. Don't make me carve a reminder on your face."
Xander thought, "This is going to be trouble." He hoped that Willow would be able to lock on to the mystical necklace he wore. "Look, let's stay calm here," he said. "We just want to leave town. You let us go, and it all ends here."
"Your new girlfriend broke my nose," Myron shouted, the evidence plain on his face. "You're both gonna die."
"If anything, that improves your looks," Faith said. Xander groaned inwardly. He knew that the only way to end this without a human experiencing major pain was talking their way out of it, and the new Slayer had just destroyed that option.
Before he could caution her, Faith attacked the gang. She quickly downed three of the guys. Myron was thrown into a mirror on the wall. Xander moved forward and kicked a knife out of one of the guy's hands. Faith followed close behind him and took out the guys knees with a kick.
She smiled at Xander, only to panic again at the sound of a bullet being drawn into a chamber. They turned and saw Myron pointing a pistol at Faith.
Xander felt a tingling against his neck as the magical necklace activated. He grabbed Faith, twisting their bodies so that he was between Faith and Myron. A gunshot rang out, and Myron stood shocked as Xander and Faith disappeared.
Myron looked at the other guys left in the room. All had injuries from their encounter with Faith. Myron knew that he owed them big time, and it had all been for nothing. He hadn't been able to make Faith pay for what she had done to him.
He walked to the spot where Faith and the soldier boy had been, and saw a fresh bloodstain on the cheap carpet. "Well, maybe I got some payback after all," he said. "Let me buy you guys some beers."
Faith blinked and shook her head, trying to keep from fainting. She was in Xander's arms, but they'd gone from a cheap apartment in Baltimore to a stone room.
Xander looked at her with a strange smile on his face. "Have you ever had something bad happen and wonder what you would do if you had a second chance?" he whispered.
"Yeah," Faith said, not understanding.
"Well, now I know," Xander rasped as he pitched forward, falling on his face.
Faith looked down and saw that he was bleeding from a wound in his back. As she knelt by him, a cold voice behind her shouted, "What did you do to him?"
Faith turned to see a red haired girl with black eyes. The woman's arms were outstretched and sparks flew from her fingertips.