Chapter 2
It's a long winding walk down to the crypt. I hope it doesn't look like a crypt. That might have been alright for Spike but I like something a little more...Well. More. Faith reaches out and trails her fingers along the wall as we walk, her focus entirely on Darwin ahead of us. She doesn't like anyone at her back but me. And Xander. It's like he's her puppy. "Soo... that was weird. I mean, Oz. Who knew?" Faith turns her head to look at me with a brow raised.
"Yeah, I kinda thought he died when L.A. fell. I mean,Wolfy over there wasn't my best bud but we had times, ya know? It was fucked. Now he's the Big Pants around here." I bite my lip and smile. I've always loved how Faith puts things. I snake a hand over her hip as we walk and Faith adjusts her gait smoothly to match my shorter stride. I love that about her too, I never have to skip hop to catch up to her like every other normal adult in America.
"Master Oz very nearly did." Faith flicks her eyes to me then back to Darwin's broad shoulders..
"Yeah? You been with Master Fuzz a long time?" We take a turn and stop at a heavy wooden door. It doesn't look very crypty, More Nosferatu B & B. Darwin faces us and smiles broadly displaying small tusks. It seems genuine and somehow familiar. I glance at Faith and catch her frowning slightly in thought.
"I have been his servant since The Circle rose again. I was owned by our previous Master but I chose Master Oz willingly." I hum softly as I walk around the room looking at the subtle touches of red and amber around the room. Nice thread count. I look at the bed warily, it's tall and I'm not so much and I really don't want to have to jump in it. Before I can say anything, Darwin moves easily in the room, making himself seem smaller and part of the space around him. "For your ease, Lady." Nifty. I use the two step stair he pulled from under the bed and perch at the edge. It's. Big. Like seven body orgy big. I think I'm taking this home as a parting gift when we blow this pop stand.
"Thanks. Nice room. Are they all like this?"
He's still kneeling on one knee at the foot of the bed. For a second I mistake the soft rumble of his laughter for thunder. "Just yours Lady. Each circle member has his own chamber here at the Council House. Each different as you are all different." Interesting. I can see Faith checking out the nightstand drawers with a smirk. I'm guessing she found fun stuff. "Would you prefer a glass or fresh feed dinner?" Fresh feed. I'm guessing that's a living victim. The idea makes my stomach growl audibly.
"We're good here, D man." I just stare at her as she starts shuffling him toward the door. If I wasn't so annoyed I'd think it was funny considering his size. "But do us a favor and tell your boss we'd like a chat. Without the rest of the Get A Long Gang." He nods as she shuts the door and stalks toward the bed, her leash clinking as it trails along the black stained hardwood floor. I watch her come toward me in liquid smooth movements, both predatory and seductive. A growl trickles out from between her lips and my body goes tight with anticipation. I guess Faith is the only one on my menu tonight. I can go for that.
"Not that I mind having you for dinner and dessert but why the cock block?" My fingers graze her forearms as she lowers her weight on me, pushing me back on the bed. I wrap a leg around her hips, bringing her as close as I can, enjoying her warmth even through her leather pants.
"This room, the Circle shit, Oz, I don't trust it yet. I rather you feed on the strongest cleanest blood here. An' that's me, baby." Her kiss is searingly hot, heady and tangy sweet. My face shifts as my hunger kicks in at the sting of her blood on my tongue. I search the source of it out, breathing her in even as I drink her down. I find the slice in her lip and tease it open again, preventing it from sealing for a last parting drop. She knows how to tease me to a frenzy and I love it.
I shift and roll her under me, hips grinding down on hers as I sit up with a smirk. "That covers me but what about you?" I don't disagree with her logic but she needs actual food to live. Her smirk shifts to something darker and more primitive. I groan softly, grinding down again. It's always been her darkness that turned me on. That promise of destruction and pain. It's a powerful lure and like a fish I follow the shiny.
"Gonna see if I can talk Fuzz in to a little hunt. Feel each other out. It's a wolf thing." I believe her. I can tell my hands are cold by the prickled skin of her ribs. She sighs in appreciation and I smirk moving my hands lower over her belly. "I wanna believe in him, I wanna believe in the new start we could build ya know? I'm tired of runnin', B. This House, the bar, us, everything. It's right somehow. Like this is how it's supposed ta be."
She's right. I work the buttons on her fly, leaning down to nibble her collarbone with hard nips to make her squirm under me. "Sounds an awful lot like you want to settle down, Faith." Like she wants me to settle down with her. I don't know how I feel about that. A part of me, the demon part, flares with anger and sick violent feelings. The part of me with a soul, the part that still feels like Buffy, that part is hopeful. Pathetic.
Faith reaches up and tangles her fingers in the hair at the nape of my neck. She tugs hard enough to make us roll again so I'm trapped under her. Her weight settling heavily on me should make me feel trapped and insecure but it doesn't. But it does get my attention and that's what she wants. "Where ever you are, that's my home, B. You wanna ditch this for somethin' else I'm all for it. But it'd be a lie if I said I didn't wanna rest my head in the same place every morning. Plus I'm good at runnin' the bar. It's the only thing I'm good at that isn't scary."
I smile up at her with a leer and rub against her seductively. "I can name a few things you're good at that aren't scary." It gets me a laugh and that annoying little Buffy part feels smug and happy. Who am I kidding? I'm more her again, every day. I wonder if this is how it was for Angel. If he was more human the longer he had his soul, less at war with himself. Will I ever find a balance and peace? Do I even want that? I have to admit that the chaotic back and forth is tempting. "So if this is what we want where is our line in the sand?"
The Circle seems pretty evil. Or at least the potential for pretty evil. It's hard to believe it of Oz but people change, power changes people. And he has a lot of it. I've never seen a werewolf shift the way he did. Not even Ama and she's the most powerful thing on four legs in our area. So maybe he's not the same guy anymore. Then again, who is these days? Faith's is quiet for a breath before she rolls her shoulders in a lazy shrug. "I dunno, B. We don't exactly run the straight an' narrow here, but I kinda don't wanna open a Hellmouth either." Good we're on the same page.
I nod slowly, a fingertip tracing the thick, ropey jugular vein pulsing oh so invitingly under her skin. My nails lengthen and graze the point over the skin, liking the shuddered breath Faith's trying to control. I can push that control. Just a little. I raise my head, nuzzling in to the offered flesh, my cool breath causing more goosebumps to rise. "That's a lot of power, it's going to be hard to buck the system." I'm not saying we can't, just saying it won't be easy if we have to do it. I nip hard to bring the blood to the surface of her skin but I don't bite down yet.
She nods twice just a little too quickly as I trail my tongue along her neck tasting her skin. "You know if shit gets real I might hafta take out Fuzz." Hmm. I pull back enough to smile lazily at her. It's not going to be easy but I believe her when she says she'll kill him. It could get confusing, trying to enjoy that lust for blood and the kill while remembering a dead girl's life and family. I nuzzle back in to keep her from reading the thoughts on my face.
"And Mr. Hairy Eyeball?" Because he has to go. If anyone is going to offer resistance it's him. I'm not sure what his deal is but I know I officially never cared. Her growl makes my whole body feel like a live wire and I gasp in pleasure at the pull of her darkness against my soul. I'm guessing that means he goes first. I strike then, arms and legs tightening around her body like a boa constrictor. She only resists a little but I think that's more for me than for her. I let my eyes close as I take what she's giving so willingly.
xxxxx
I crack an eye and grunt. It's mid day. I can't smell the burning asphalt and hot metal of the world above ground so it takes me a second to adjust an' realize it's not mid day but almost dusk. I glance over at B all snuggled down in the sheets. She almost looks like she used to. Before. I reach out to brush some hair from her face, lovin' the way the hair feels on my skin. I used ta want that so bad. Before. So much has happened it's hard to reconcile us with who we used ta be.
A knock at the door makes my hair raise on end. I can feel him on the other side of the door. His power is eatin' at me like a nest of angry ants, chompin' on my skin. I let out a huff before hoppin' down from the bed and tugging on my pants. I only button about half of my vest before I open the door an' lean against the frame. "Was wonderin' if you were gonna show sometime before we hadda make a choice or not." He just smiles and tucks his hands in to his suit.
Spiffy. The kid has money now. I can see that even if I can't pronounce the designer on his labels. "I was wondering the same thing, myself." I nod as I finish buckling my belt and buttoning my vest. His answer doesn't leave me with a whole lot of hope for him bein' in our corner when, not if, the chips fall wrong. "Actually I was relieved to bring you bad news."
I raise my brows at that, not sure how to take it. "Wha? Your offer off the table now?" It could happen. We're a big threat to the rest of the Council. An' why is it that anything that calls itself a Council turns out to be so shady?
"No. One of our members had an emergency come up. It's all or nothing with us so your answer can be postponed until he gets back." He? Another questioning brow and he lets his head drop a notch, tryin' to put me at ease an' let me be the Alpha. "Eowain. You might have noticed he wasn't your biggest fan yesterday." Oh him. I was glad to see that B noticed him but I'm not so sure I like how naked his hate for us is. Of course I could fix that shit no problem if it gets hot. I just gotta wonder what the consequences would be. I was serious when I told Buffy I wanted this. I don't wanna fuck it up and I hafta know what the rules of the game are before I play.
"Yeah, I saw him. What's eatin' his asshole?" There's just the smallest flicker of a smile before it fades. Okay well some things don't change I guess. Oz shrugs a little an' glances at B asleep in the bed. His head cocks to one side an' I know he's listenin' for her heartbeat. He won't find it.
"That's creepy." Yeah it kinda is. I don't say anything, waiting him out while he looks around the room, rockin' on his heels. "Eowain isn't so bad. He's just taking his sire's death a little hard." Okay so I'm not a vampire an' I'm never gonna really understand that bond but I get that it's deep. Maybe as deep as what me an' B share. If it is, that's intense. "I think he's plotting vengeance more than he's taking care of his 'emergency'."
Sorta sounds like my kinda guy. "So who killed his sire?" Yeah I already know the answer so I don't really need him glancin' at Buffy wryly. Great. First day of school an' we already got a bully fight in the makin'. I snort softly at that while I run fingers through my curls gettin' them less wild before I turn to him fully. "This gonna be an issue?"
He gives me a slow shake of his head. "Violence between Council members is strictly forbidden. When we rose again we all decided against the use of scions. The buck stops here, with us. We can't exactly afford to lose any members if there's no scions to take our places." I hafta wonder how he worked that out, cause I'm pretty sure that was his idea. "If there's a grievance we take it to The Pit." Oh well now I'm interested.
"You got some game goin' here, Fuzz." Another half grin from him. He seems almost normal ya know? Almost.
"Can we walk? There's this place half a block away. I'll buy you a burger, extra rare of course." It makes me smile just a lil and I nod. A block away. B should be fine, an' I pity anyone who tries anythin' while I'm gone. She mighta had her fill on me but B's always had a hollow leg if ya know what I mean. She used ta pack away double what I did after a good slay. I let Oz lead the way only stoppin' in the hall when I realize that his watch dog is standin' in the shadow. "Darwin."
It's just the one word. But it says so much. The demon straightens an' nods at us both, more alert than he was before. I get the feelin' that B is more safe than she even knows right now. I can smell the world now that we're close to the surface, it's like a drug, all those scents. Makes me wanna run an' howl to let the world know it's mine an' I'm comin' so you better run an' hide. We don't speak on the way, but I'm not worried. It's different from Xander, he talks because he gets nervous when it's quiet. He asked me out here for a reason so I'll let him take his time gettin' to it.
"I'm sorry. About Buffy." I almost didn't hear him with the scent of meat filling my nose and makin' me distracted. "It all worked out I see but I'm still sorry." I just nod at that not sure how to respond. I never told anyone what I went through those first few days. I probably never will, but when he stands there reading the menu in his fancy suit and his quiet understandin', I almost want to.
"You didn't bring me all the way over here to sympathize over my dead girlfriend." This time it's him who's noddin'. I lean against the counter as he orders enough burgers for an entire football team. Wonder what he's plannin' on eatin'.
"No I didn't." He's quiet another second longer as we fill large cups of soda and settle at a table in the back. "I need your help, Faith."
Now we're gettin' to it. I lean back a bit an' sigh. "Who ya want me to kill?"
"If the world were perfect, no one." But it isn't. I nod again slower this time. "When this whole thing started I had all these ideals about how we could be different, better than our masters. Maybe we're not making the world better but I was hoping we wouldn't be making it worse. Now I'm not so sure."
It's the first time that I can see somethin' in his eyes that wasn't ever there before. Fear. If he's worried enough ta want me an' B backin' him then it's big. An' if he can't handle it alone it means it's bad. Big an' bad. My two favorite kinds of trouble. "You're gettin' out voted." It's not a question but he nods anyway.
"You and Buffy would be the tie breaker. I was hoping I could count on you two still having some sort of humanity. I wasn't sure about Buffy but I'm sure about you Faith." Is he now? The waitress brings two trays full of food, giving me time to figure out if I wanna punch his teeth in or not.
"Yeah? Why you so sure about me?"
His voice is soft an' gentle remindin' me of the boy he used ta be. "Because you risked everything to bring her back. If you thought she was beyond redemption, Buffy, would be a pile of dust. "
"Could just be obsession. Like Spike an' Dru." He smirks and shakes his head. I'm not too sure I like him bein' so wise an' observant. It makes me nervous.
"All love that deep is obsessive. But I've seen you unravel Faith, that's not what I see now." My lips curl flashing my lower set of fangs. I forgot he saw the darkest parts of me before Angel saved me. "Help me, Faith. Please."
I don't even know what exactly I'm helpin' but it's hard to say no to that. I shrug an' dig in to the most perfect piece of meat I've ever tasted. "Ya know ya gotta talk to the big boss about that." We make our choices jointly anyway but I want her to hear it from him directly. So I'm willin' to wait before I agree to anything. "Truth is we gotta lot of questions. You're gonna answer them before we take this shit any further. Right?"
His power ruffles the hair on the back of my neck. He took it as a personal challenge an' I can see him workin' hard to swallow all that down. Oz has more control than anyone I've ever met before an' it doesn't surprise me that after a slow blink he's back to himself. "How's the burger?" It's not an agreement but it's the best I'm gonna get right now so I'll take it. We eye each other before we both look away, neither one of us wanting to start a dominance fight.
I'm curious about who'd win but I'm not in the mood ta find out right now. So for now I'll eat like we're old buddies shootin' the shit. For now.