Faith sat alone by the lake, watching in disbelief as the giant squid glided over the surface. She shook her head slightly, amazed that her life had actually become more screwy and complicated than it already was. As the evening breeze played on the slayer's face, she wondered if this really was the best thing to do- sure she couldn't go back to prison, the risk of Voldemort somehow getting control over her was too high, and at least there were people powerful enough to control her here, but Faith was terrified of that which she knew she once was. What if she lost control? What if the professors couldn't stop her? What if somehow Voldemort could control her from the outside, and she was in here, with all these innocents all around? She smiled wryly; Dawn believed in her. That had surprised her. Dawn stood up for her against Buffy- now that was almost enough on its own to make her stay… besides, she shrugged, I promised.
She heard the footfalls moments before Spike appeared beside her. Faith looked up at the vampire, but he was gazing out over the lake.
"Sorry, you cravin' a moment alone?" he said without looking at her. Faith shrugged,
"Whatever."
He sat beside her and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Faith's eyes lit up, and he didn't miss it. He removed one, and offered her the pack. With a moment's hesitation, she accepted, also borrowing his lighter. "I guess you can smoke all you want." She said, "The big C not really an issue."
He shrugged,
"Teeth get yellow after an eternity, gotta watch that."
Faith smiled, and went back to starring out across the water, blowing out a stream of thick smoke.
"Umm…" she sighed, "Not had one o' these since snake dude nabbed me."
Spike looked sideways at her,
"Right- in the slammer." He said, waiting for her reaction. She just raised her eyebrows,
"Right."
"You coulda split any time you liked."
"Three squares, nice weight room, movie every third Sunday. Could've been worse."
"What movie?" Spike asked.
"Last one was 'Glitter'." Spike
raised an eyebrow. "I guess it couldn't a been much worse… but y'know, after
Voldemort, you see a different perspective…"
Spike ignored the last,
"You had the power to walk away any time. Nothing to stop you."
"I stopped me." She said quietly. "I got… dangerous… for a while."
"You over it?" He asked.
"More or less." She let a grin creep onto her face.
"I'm not gonna ask." Spike laughed, pretty certain of where that road would lead.
"I have met you before, y'know." Faith told him. He just frowned, thinking, then eventually shook his head. "I was kinda… wearing a different body."
"Pity."
"You seemed ok with it."
Spike closed his eyes briefly,
"The body swap, with Buffy."
"She fill you in on that whole deal?"
"Told me it went down. Failed to mention who was driving her skin around."
Faith grinned,
"I may have said a few things…"
"Like you could ride me at a gallop til my knees buckle, squeeze me til I pop like warm champagne… not the kinda thing a man forgets.
"You shoulda known it wasn't blondie behind the wheel. She'd never throw down like that." She smiled. Spike didn't answer, didn't react at all, and Faith's insides did a somersault. "No way." She gasped, "Don't tell me little miss tightly wound's been getting her naughty on!?"
"No." He said, way too quickly, "Not… no, course not."
"Uh-huh."
Faith's grin looked like one that wouldn't fade for a long time.
"So this is… mine? Just like that?" Faith asked, gaping at the room before her.
"Just like that." McGonogall smiled. She knew the whole Faith story, but couldn't help liking the girl. "Professor Windam Pryce has agreed to begin your training as soon as you are fit enough, and I trust you will find everything you need in here somewhere."
"Thanks." Faith murmured. The room was amazing. A vast fourposter bed dominated one wall, flanked by two large windows with glorious views out over the grounds. There was a writing desk on one sidewall, right next to a training area in the corner with a punchbag, attack dummy and a floor that looked just like the rest of the floor- smooth dark wood, but when Faith stepped on it, she discovered that it was soft, like training mats. There was also an array of training weapons, including fighting sticks with pointed, stake like ends and a very nice cross bow, on the wall. "Wicked!" Faith gasped. McGonogall just smiled. "Wait- you guys trust me this much?" Faith asked disbelievingly. McGonogall shrugged uncomfortably,
"We trust you Faith… but this is a school… they disintegrate out side this room." She was waiting for an insulted retort, but Faith's reply was,
"Wicked cool!"
And she turned to the large wardrobe on the other wall. She walked over to it, and opened it, finding a selection of clothes, all her size. She choked a laugh, "Jeez…"
"We thought… well, as you have none of your own…"
"Yeah, they're great…" She said vacantly. There was a door leading to a large bathroom on the left, and she peered in, noting the bath the size of a small swimming pool. "Erm… whats with all the taps?" She asked.
"You'll find out." McGonogall replied, almost grinning now.
"Right…"
"The portrait password at the moment is 'Dragon tooth'. But you can change it from inside now, just ask the occupant to move to one of these paintings, and give her the new password." She motioned to the few paintings (un occupied ones) on the walls of the room.
"Cool." Faith nodded.
"And dinner is at six." McGonogall added, "But I think you already knew that. So… I don't want to bore you. If you need anything, just ask, of course. And, ah… don't get lost on the way down to dinner."
"I wont. I got a pretty good sense of direction." She forced herself not to feel unsure at the twinkle in McGonogall's eye, and watched the witch exit. McGonogall must have said something, because the young woman Faith had seen in the portrait earlier soon appeared in a painting of a fruit bowl within the room. "I am never gonna get use to this paintin's movin' thing." Faith exclaimed, shaking her head. The painting giggled,
"Lots of muggle born students get a little …freaked." She said the last as if she'd heard it somewhere and was scared of using it wrong. Faith smiled,
"So you're my door, huh?"
"At your service." She replied, picking up a grape that was comparatively the size of a melon and biting into it, squirting juice everywhere. But, even covered in oversized grape juice, there was something in the way she held herself, a sort of alertness and certainty about herself that told Faith she was not one to be pushed around.
"Whoa." Faith gasped.
"What?" she asked, wiping away juice with one of her many layers of skirt.
"You… are you a slayer?"
The woman, closer to a girl, really, looked a little put out, and very shocked,
"No one's ever seemed to notice that before." She said quietly, "No one asked, that's for sure."
"But you are?"
"Well, yes."
"I thought either that, or a vamp…"
"Well, technically…" She started, a deep sorrow in her voice. Faith frowned,
"You were turned." She realised.
"Yeah…" The painting said, "I was… but it don't work properly with slayers…"
"How d'you mean?" Faith asked, she'd never even heard of a slayer being turned.
"Well… it's somethin' to do with where our strength comes from… the demon can't take over properly… so the soul doesn't let go so easy."
"So you had your soul…"
"Yeah, but I also had this thing inside of me. This dark, evil thing that kept trying to claw its way outta me… every time I saw a human being… I couldn't take it!" She gasped, looking imploring to the other girl, as if trying to justify something. It was then that Faith understood.
"You staked yourself."
The painting nodded.
"I couldn't let the thing within me live."
"I know how you feel." Faith murmured before she even knew she'd thought it.
"How?" The vampire-slayer asked. Faith, the vampire slayer, looked up at her,
"I wasn't a vamp…" She began, "I guess that makes it worse… but I know what it's like to have that darkness inside you. It's so easy just to give in to it… but then it takes you over…"
"You over came it, though. I could not. I was not strong enough."
Faith shook her head.
"You killed the beast before it could do any harm. I didn't. And when I found myself again… I was too weak to end it. I tried to make some else do it… but he wouldn't…"
"He helped you instead." It was now that Faith realised how creepy it was that she could connect so well with a painting. "I had no one." The painting continued, "The vampire that sired me killed my watcher; the council thought I was dead, naturally; I went home, tried to continue… but I couldn't take it."
"I'm sorry." Faith breathed.
"Yeah well, but now all that remains of me is a painting. And paintings don't have blood, and don't need to eat… so it doesn't bother me!" She said cheerfully.
"What was… what is your name?" Faith asked.
"Maya."
"Faith."
"You are a slayer too?" Maya asked, only for conformation,
"Yep. So… how about this password thingy then?"
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I know I used a lot of Faith and Spike's conversation from 'Dirty girls' but I loved that scene so much and since it's not possible in its true form in this fic, I adapted it. Hope it was ok!
I promise demon fighting in the next chapter!!
Please review.
-Sam