Chapter 4
Thanks for all the wonderful comments on this story. Since the last bit ended (some would say unfairly) with a cliffhanger, I've moved this to the front of the update list. It may be a while before the next installment. This bit is kinda dark, but it was necessary to show where Faith is at this point in her life, and how Willow is perceived by the Council holdovers. Hope it doesn't suck – ml
Author's note: In this AU, Kendra was a month older than Buffy. Kendra's Watcher was the one who "failed the Council," alerting Buffy and Kendra of the Cruciamentum and losing his position as a Watcher as a result. Kendra and Buffy resigned from the Council. They agreed to work with Giles, who was still a Watcher. So the upshot is that Wesley never made it to Sunnydale - ml
Faith, the newly-chosen Vampire Slayer, was terrified. The air around her seemed charged with static electricity. She was beside the unconscious body of Xander Harris and in front of her stood a terrifying girl with red hair and black eyes. It seemed as if all of the light in the room was dimmed around her; as if the other girl was a magical black hole.
The redhead repeated her first words to Faith: "What did you do to Xander?"
"It wasn't me," Faith said, hurriedly. "It was Myr…" she hesitated. "It was this mugger. He pulled a gun on us and Harris…He just jumped in front of me."
Willow hesitated. "Sounds like him, the big dummy" she sighed. Willow forced herself to regain control and light returned to the room.
Xander began coughing. It sounded like he was choking. Willow rushed to his side, making sure that he wasn't in danger of swallowing his tongue. She felt for a pulse. The strong beat of Xander's heart calmed the witch. She motioned, and her oldest friend was magically lifted from the floor. Willow used her powers to guide Xander to the Council infirmary. "Follow me," she commanded Faith.
The Slayer felt suddenly lightheaded as she was pulled along behind the witch. "This is without a doubt the scariest bitch I've ever seen in my life," she thought.
The doctors in the infirmary visibly paled when they saw Willow enter their area with her wounded friend. Faith noticed how nervous the men seemed around the red haired witch. Their anxiety grew when they noted Xander's wound.
"He's been shot," Willow said. "His heartbeat's strong, I think he'll be okay…Right?"
"Uh-I'm sure he will be," the lead physician offered. "We need to get him into surgery…Could you let him down?"
"Oh, right. Sorry," Willow offered, letting Xander sink down onto a gurney. She sat down in the waiting area. Faith, not knowing what else to do, sat nearby. She remained silent as Willow took out her cell phone and called Buffy and Spike, Dawn, and Giles. She got an update on the search for Kakistos, the ancient vampire who had killed Kendra. Spike, apparently, was driving Buffy crazy and junior Watcher Andrew was taking the loss of his Slayer and lover hard.
As Faith sat, she became very drowsy. That was when she remembered all the drugs that she had taken the previous evening in a vain attempt to get to sleep. She tried to keep her eyes open, but the next thing she knew Willow was gently shaking her awake.
"Sorry," the witch apologized. "I should have looked after you before I called anyone. You're the new Slayer, right?"
"Yeah," Faith said, trying to clear the cobwebs. "I'm Faith."
"Good name for a Slayer," the other girl said with a smile. "I teleported you guys here to England. I'm Willow, the resident wiccan."
Faith nodded. "Harris mentioned you."
"Harris… Oh. We mostly just call him Xander," Willow said. "I got you a soda," she said as she handed Faith a drink. "Are you okay? Did the muggers hurt you? Did Xander tell you about Slayers? Are you hungry?"
"Can I pick one, or do I have to answer all of those?" Faith asked.
"Sorry," Willow said. "I'm a babbler. Whenever I'm nervous it can kind of take over."
"It's okay," Faith replied, taking a sip of her drink. "I'm fine. Har- I mean, Xander, he jumped in front of me before those guys could do anything."
Willow stared at the Slayers ripped T-shirt. "So, you were going for the well-ventilated look?"
Faith looked down and saw a knife cut that one of Myron's goons had made in her clothing. "It's…how we wear it up town." She offered Willow a weak smile. "I got the short version of the Slayer thing. As far as food; if you're offering…"
Willow noted the change of topic, but chose to ignore it for now. "We'll get you fixed up. English food isn't the greatest, but we get a few things imported from the states…As soon as we hear about Xander there's a café we can go to. I don't know what's taking the doctors so long."
"How long was I asleep?" Faith asked, looking around for a clock.
"About two hours."
Faith concentrated on the place where they had taken Xander and was surprised that she could hear the doctors speaking. "They really must be yelling in there."
"What do you mean?" Willow asked.
"Can't you hear them?"
"No. That's Slayer hearing. It's one of the perks."
"Oh, Harris didn't mention that. Cool."
Faith focused on the doctor's conversation. "I'm not going out there. I won't do it," one of the doctors said.
Faith smirked. "I guess I'm not the only one who thinks Red here is a little intimidating."
The voice kept talking. "This is just how it started last time. Some idiot shoots one of her friends then it's 'Hello Apocalypse.' And last time he was the one who saved the world."
"Huh," Faith thought. "I guess Harris is the modest type." He hadn't said anything about that when they had talked about the red witch.
The doctor continued his rant. "How do you think she's going to react when I tell her that her best friend is unconscious with a bullet lodged in his spinal chord and he may be paralyzed?"
Faith dropped the soda can. Harris had been paralyzed while trying to protect her. She had liked him; almost trusted him, at least as much as she could trust a guy.
Willow looked worriedly at Faith. "What did you hear?"
"It's the…You, know, the doc. He says that Xander is still unconscious and might be paralyzed."
Willow gasped and started to shake. "But I told everyone not to worry. He can't be paralyzed. Not after everything else he's had to deal with." A single tear rolled down the redhead's cheek.
"He had it rough?" Faith asked.
Willow pulled her knees to her chest as she sat in the chair, as if trying to shield herself. Slowing her breathing, she looked over at Faith. "Well, you could see the eye patch."
Faith nodded.
"Then there's the scars I gave him when I…Well, let's say I had a problem and he got in the line of fire. Literally. He had his arm broken by a vampire and his wrist smashed by a troll. His parents were, well, not exactly the best in terms of…humanity. He made it through all that only to be paralyzed by a mugger. It's just another senseless…It's like Tara."
Faith saw the wiccan's eyes turn black. "Hey, the doctor said, 'maybe.' Sounds like Xander's pretty tough. He'll pull through."
At that time, an older gentleman in tweed and a young man in his early twenties arrived and greeted Willow.
"How is Xander?" Rupert Giles asked.
"The doctor thinks that he could be paralyzed," Willow managed to say. Giles drew the girl into a hug. When they pulled apart, Willow noticed the stare Giles cast towards her brunette companion. "Faith, this is Rupert Giles, Head of the Watcher's Council, and Wesley Windham-Price; he's one of the younger Watchers."
"Sorry to meet you under such trying circumstances," Giles said as he shook her hand. "I can only imagine how difficult this is for you."
"Well, it would be easier if Xander was okay," Faith said. "He seemed pretty cool."
"The best," Willow said with a sad smile.
"Yes," Wesley said in a voice that did not sound entirely sincere. He removed a nonexistent piece of lint from his immaculate tweed coat. "In any event, Mr. Harris will be out of the fight for at least the foreseeable future. With that being the case, as the most experienced junior Watcher, I assume that I will be assigned to Miss…Excuse me, what is your last name?"
"Just call me Faith."
"I see," Wesley drawled.
"Giles, can I talk to you for a minute?" Willow asked. One of the doctors hesitantly exited the infirmary. "M-Mr. Harris…he's not" he started to say.
Willow shook her head and snarled, "I know, he's unconscious and may be paralyzed. Grow a pair already." She stomped down the hall.
"Sorry," Giles told the doctor. "She's spent too much time around Spike. We'll be back in a moment to see Xander."
Wesley approached his new charge. "So, what did Mr. Harris tell you about the responsibilities inherent in being a Slayer?"
Faith sighed. "We talked for a half hour or so then a mugger shot him. There wasn't that much time for details."
"Yes, quite. Well, the first thing we must do is find a more appropriate wardrobe for you. While I'm sure this is the height of style in America, in Britain it would attract entirely too much attention. It is imperative that the Slayer work in anonymity…As Sir Thomas Malone, a Seventeenth Century Watcher was fond of saying…"
"Well, if you want me to change clothes - that's fine." She pulled off her torn T-shirt and tossed it to the Watcher, leaving her topless.
Wesley's face turned bright red as he looked at the sensational body of the Slayer. He wasn't used to female nudity, and few women could compete with Faith's figure in any event.
Faith took one look at Wesley's flushed face and knew immediately, "His ass is mine. He wants me, and I can use that to get anything I want." She almost laughed at the naked lust the young Englishman was trying oh so desperately to hide.
"I…" Wesley began. "I mean you…"
"I should get dressed again, Wes? Hey, no problem." Faith took the T-shirt from Wesley's arms, pausing to caress his bicep. She put the shirt back on and surveyed the waiting area. "Hey Wes, I'm starving. Can you get me something to eat?"
"Er, well, there's a café just down the street," Wesley replied.
"Maybe you could get me a burger, some fries…Nothing fancy."
"Yes," Wesley said, trying to keep his eyes off Faith's chest and failing miserably. "I think that's an excellent idea. A Slayer must keep her strength up." He stood waiting for Faith to move before remembering she didn't know the layout of the building. The girl just stared at him, expectantly. "Uh, just let me lead the way."
In the meanwhile, Willow and Giles were arguing. "You can't let this twit act as Faith's new Watcher."
"What choice do I have?" Giles asked, tired of this old argument. "I was hoping to entice Xander to assist with the new Slayer. Given his condition and the status of the others, there simply isn't a more qualified Watcher than Wesley."
"Xander's going to hate this idea," Willow predicted.
"Well then he can bloody well recover and take over for him. It's what I'd prefer in any event."
Willow, shocked by the older man's tone, was forced to relent. It reminded her of the arguments she had with the Watcher in Sunnydale over her increasing use of magic. Having been proven spectacularly wrong made subsequent disagreements more distasteful.
Giles and Willow returned to the infirmary and noticed that Faith and Wesley had left. Willow found Xander's room and tried to ignore the anxious stares of the doctors. She had faced those stares ever since she came to England. They knew her history. She had been weighed in the balance and found wanting. She heard the whispers, noted the way people shrank from her. If it weren't for the former Scoobies, especially Xander, it would have driven her crazy.
Fortunately, Dawn and Cordelia soon joined her at Xander's bedside. That made the waiting a little easier. Cordelia railed at how stupid Xander must be to let himself get into yet another life-threatening situation, but Willow knew that the bluster was just to hide her anxiety.
Dawn's worry showed in different ways. She fidgeted, uneasy. Every few minutes, Dawn would erupt in a burst of energy and either go looking for snacks or grab a medical reference to check things on her oldest guy friend's chart.
For Willow, the waiting had to be done in silence, using meditation to keep her from going over the edge. Her concentration was so intense that Cordelia had to tap her on the shoulder when she wanted the redhead's attention.
"Dawn wants to get some pastries at the café," Cordelia said. "Do you want anything?"
"I need chocolate in the worst way humanly possible," Willow said. "Maybe we should get something for Xander, too. I can't imagine what he'd say if he woke up and we had cakes and he didn't."
"Yeah, he would whine," Cordelia said, gently mocking her former boyfriend.
"I know what he'd do," Dawn supplied with a sad smile. "He would take one look at the three of us gathered around his bed and say…"
"Good morning Angels," Xander rasped.
"Exactly," Dawn agreed before realizing Xander was indeed awake.
Xander saw the three beautiful young women about to jump on him (as he had expected, and frankly was looking forward to) only to stop their forward motion. It was almost like they were afraid of hurting him if they touched him. Suddenly he became very afraid. "What happened to me?" He asked.
"You got shot by a mugger," Willow supplied. "At least that's what Faith said."
"Mugger?" Xander asked. "I don't…Oh …Okay…So why are you guys looking at me like I'm fragile?" He finally looked down and saw that he was strapped in the bed. "This isn't good, is it?"
"The doctors couldn't extract the bullet," Willow said. They think it's pressing on your spinal chord, and so you're kinda…You can't…"
"You're paralyzed," Cordelia supplied. "But it may only be a temporary thing. If we can get a doctor here who knows enough to use the sharp end of the scalpel, you could be getting in the way in no time flat."
"That's my Cordie," Xander said, forcing a smile.
"So, where is Faith," Xander asked. "You showing her around, Willow?"
Willow blushed. "I may have freaked her out a little when I zapped you over. I saw you wounded and bleeding and I thought she may have been the cause of it."
"Tell me you left her in one piece," Dawn pleaded.
"There was no tearing into pieces. Once she explained everything, I just took care of Xander. I guess she's with her new Watcher now."
Xander looked puzzled. "I didn't know Giles was thinking of going back into the field."
"He's not, Willow said.
"Oh God, don't tell me," Cordelia shrieked.
"It can't be," Dawn shouted.
"Not Wussley," Xander groaned. It was almost impossible for him to imagine a worse match for the headstrong girl than the uptight Englishman.
"Afraid so," Willow said.
The doctor arrived and discussed Xander's diagnosis with the group. A specialist would be brought in. She had already looked at the X-rays and agreed that the prognosis for a recovery of at least some use of his legs was promising. With that, Xander said he was tired and the group left so he could sleep.
An hour or so later, Faith and Wesley visited Xander.
"How ya doin' Boss?" Faith asked.
Xander managed a smile. "I'm okay. I was too slow."
"You saved my ass," Faith said, softly.
"It was worth saving," Xander replied.
"I think so," Faith agreed.
Xander turned his head and looked at the Englishman. "Wes, I hear that you've been assigned to be Faith's Watcher."
"Yes, Mr. Giles agreed that I was the most qualified," Wesley said as Xander suppressed the desire to moan.
"Well, I know you'll do your best to keep her safe."
"She's a Slayer," Wesley countered. "I will make sure that she remains true to her calling."
"Uh, right," Xander said, unable to keep his eyes from rolling. "Can I have a quick word with Faith?" Xander asked.
"Certainly," Wesley said. "We were just dropping by before patrol. I shall visit the quartermaster's office to obtain supplies."
"Patrol?" Xander asked. "She just found out that she was a Slayer this morning. Have you even slept since yesterday?" He asked Faith.
"I got a quick nap. I'm five by five."
"Wesley, she needs rest and training. She isn't ready."
"I am well aware of the protectiveness you feel towards the members of your team," Wesley said, as if lecturing a small child. "Please do me the courtesy of understanding that while I am concerned about Faith's safety, I have an obligation to the Watcher's Council not to coddle her."
Faith watched the confrontation between the two men uncomfortably. She didn't like Wesley's attitude, but she was equally uncomfortable with Xander telling her Watcher that she wasn't able to do things other Slayers had done.
"She's not ready," Xander repeated.
"I am her Watcher, and I will decide what she will do," Wesley said.
All of the humor left Xander's face. He looked at Faith, then at Wesley and said, "If you take her on patrol and anything happens to her. I'll kill you myself."
Wesley couldn't help but laugh at the threat from the paralyzed American.
Xander's stare became truly frightening. "I will find a way, Wesley. Count on it."
Wesley paled somewhat, before regaining his composure. "I will be back in five minutes. Xander, I will take your recommendations under advisement."
Neither Xander nor Faith spoke for a while after Wesley left. Finally, Xander said, "I'm sorry, Wesley gets on my last nerve. Now what's this I hear about being shot by a mugger?"
Faith couldn't meet his gaze. "I just didn't want Red lookin' at me like I was a tramp, ya know? You gonna rat me out?"
Xander sighed. "I won't say anything if you promise to tell Wesley. You can't have secrets from your Watcher. That's one thing I learned in Sunnydale. Say what you want to everyone else."
"Wes doesn't like you much," Faith noted.
"Well, it's mutual. We're just a little too different to get along. He's ambitious; I'll say that for him. He wants to score points with Giles by reporting that he had success on his first day as a Watcher. He doesn't understand that's not how G-man keeps score…." Xander paused, trying to get comfortable in his hospital bed. "Look, just promise me that you'll check in with Giles before you go out tonight. He'll either tell Wes to cool it or make sure you patrol in an area where we have some controls in place. If you'll do that, I'll keep quiet about everything in Baltimore and play nice with Wesley."
"Deal," Faith said.
"So, what are we going to say you did in Baltimore? Waitress?"
"That works. I can spill coffee with the best of them. Well, I better be going. Wes will be waiting."
"Talk to Giles," Xander said.
"Yeah," Faith answered.
Wesley was waiting outside the door for her. "I have the supplies," Wesly said, showing her a collection of stakes, holy water, and a short sword."
"Yeah, about the patrol…" Faith started.
Wesley interrupted, "Yes, I can't believe how much of a mother hen he is. Did he tell you that the current Slayer, Buffy, was patrolling at the age of 15?"
"No, he didn't say that," Faith muttered. She walked up to the nurse on duty. "Xander is in a lot of pain and is trying to sleep. Can you give him something to help him rest?"
The nurse nodded and moved to a large, locked cabinet. She opened it, took out some painkillers, and closed it again. Faith noticed that the nurse didn't take the key as she took the medication to her patient. The novice Slayer walked a few steps with Wesley and said that she had forgotten something and would be right back. While the Watcher waited down the hall, Faith liberated some medicine and soon rejoined Wesley.
"I think I want the sword," Faith said as they left the building.