The Missing Half
Chapter 6- Getting to Know You
A/N: This chapter picks up right where the last one left off. Thanks for the reviews!
Willow started her argument as soon as Buffy had finished hers. "Buffy, this isn't over. I still don't trust her and I don't know what's gunna make me. She held a knife to my throat. She wanted us dead. She tried to help a giant demon lizard end the world. She tried to take over your life. Tell me Buffy. Tell me why I should just let all of that go."
Buffy looked at her feet in defeat. "Wills, I don't really know. Do what you want, but please, just don't make things harder than they have to be." Buffy promptly turned away and went back out to living room where Faith was still sitting, with her eyes closed, trying to ease the dull throbbing in her head and ribs. Buffy stood and watched the other slayer, still trying to sort out her feelings for her.
Faith could sense that the older slayer was nearby, so she opened her eyes and said, "Well that went better
than I thought it would I expected Red to turn me into a little black beetle, then rip my legs off one by one
and step on me. That probably would have made things a lot easier…B, I gotta, I gotta go lay down for a
bit. My head's killing me and frankly, I don't want to be here right now." With that, Faith trudged up the stairs and lay down on the bed Buffy had so generously let her use. Within a few minutes, Faith was asleep.
Buffy told Willow and Xander that they should leave; she needed some time alone. To think. So after they left, Buffy went upstairs to check on Dawn who was working on some homework. Then, Buffy retired to her own room to ponder the day's events. 'Today was amazing. Faith, she really brings out the better Buffy. We shopped all day and acted just like regular women. Yeah so we were regular women with a lot on our minds, but we still had fun. At least I did. I hope Faith really has changed. I could get used to more days like this.' As Buffy tried to shut her mind off so she could take a small nap before patrol, she silently thanked the higher for sending Faith back to her.
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Faith woke up to the wonderful smell of pizza. 'Oh wow I could so get used this. Waking to the smell of delicious food instead of the stale smell of sweat that dank little crap-house prison brought. Yeah, this is definitely an improvement.' Faith walked downstairs and was greeted by the sight of Buffy and Dawn dishing pizza out
"Props to the Summers' sisters. They know how to win an ex-fugitive's heart." Buffy and Dawn lifted their heads and smiled at Faith while handing her a plate full of pizza.
"Thought we should get something in our stomachs before we patrol tonight. We don't want to draw attention to us when our bellies make those little growly noises. Wouldn't the vamps just love that?" Buffy joked. Faith nodded in agreement briefly before returning to the complete devouring of her food.
The three girls joked all through dinner until the two slayers got ready to leave for their jobs.
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An hour later, Buffy and Faith left the house and walked to the nearest cemetery to begin their patrol. It was a relatively quiet night, and the girls had walked nearly half an hour before they caught their first vampire. He was a big nasty thing, dressed in all black with various piercing scattered on his face. Within seconds, he was dust.
The girls sat on a small crypt while scanning the graveyard for signs of demon activity. They made small talk, discussing what had happened in their lives before they had been brought together.
"So Faith, what was jail like?" Buffy asked. Faith knew the question was bound to pop up soon so she answered it, but she was still a bit reluctant to tell. She didn't want Buffy to think that jail was horrible and that Faith had been through so much when she was there. The funny thing was, jail was one of the most relaxing places Faith had ever been. No trying to save the world. 'Or end it' Faith mused darkly. Not that she enjoyed it. She could never enjoy it knowing the reason she had been there. She had killed a man, then ran from the police. But Faith knew it was the right step she had to take to start her redemption process.
"Hmm. Jail. Well B, it certainly wasn't like the movies. No guy named Bubba who 'dropped the soap.' No trucker ladies named Bertha who have every inch of their body's tattooed. Most people were just a bunch of women who had screwed up and were just paying their dues. People actually tried to be on their best behavior, hoping they could shorten their time there. There were a few fights. Nothing big. A girl tried to attack me once, but never again." Faith didn't go into detail about why the girl never tried to jump her again. She didn't want Buffy to know that the story included the girl breaking an arm.
"Jail was…well, jail was an experience. I don't' know how else to put it. It had its ups and downs. It had a gym, a library, and three meals a day. But everyday I remembered why I was there. That I had taken a somewhat innocent man's life. That I had almost ruined yours. That was probably the hardest three months of my life. Knowing that I had screwed up so much, and that in order to start fixing it, I had to sit and twiddle my thumbs in a cell." Faith finished her explanation and waited to hear what Buffy had to say. To her surprise, Buffy said nothing. What surprised her more was the fact that Buffy had entwined her fingers with Faith's with one hand, and cupped Faith's cheek with the other.
"Faith. I want to make this better. Whatever you have to do to redeem yourself, I want you to now that I am going to be right here with you. I will not abandon you this time." Buffy squeezed Faith's hand quickly, then jumped off the crypt.
Faith followed suit and the two girls walked into the night, a new sense of calm between the two.
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The two slayers arrived back at the Summers' house shortly after two in the morning. It had been an incredibly slow night, and they were still deep in conversation, discussing what they had missed in each other's lives. Dawn was fast asleep upstairs, so the two women sat in the living room downstairs so as not to disturb her.
"So B, what's your love life been like? Any men that still believe in chivalry and wash behind their ears make you a happy, happy slayer?" A flash of pain streaked across Buffy's face and Faith immediately regretted asking the question. "I take it not so good, eh?"
"Well there was this one guy. You know him Riley…the one you umm, kinda did it with while in my body."
"Oh soldier boy, gotcha…so what happened?"
"He left. He got wrapped up in all these vampire-sucking things…don't ask. Then he got some new orders and left. I could have kept him from going, but I missed him. I just missed him. I yelled for him, I wanted him to stay, but he didn't. He just left. Left like Angel. Left like my dad. Left like mom. See a trend?" Buffy was near tears, but a comforting hand from Faith immediately rubbed small circles on her back. For some reason, it almost instantly soothed her.
For a moment the two slayers just sat there, feeling the comforting warmth of each other's bodies. Then Buffy jumped up suddenly and exclaimed, "Oh crap! Faith you know what I realized! We still haven't discussed this vision Cordy had! So stupid! That's kind of important and all, seeing as it once again deals with the ending of the world. How long do we have?"
"Queen C's not exactly sure, but she thinks we have a long time. She doesn't always get exact information, but she kinda got a feel that this one was in the future. A pretty distant future, but still close enough to be a huge threat. As it is, we can't really do anything for it to prepare except train. All Cordy knows is that it's something bad, a beast from Hell. Their still trying to investigate it back at Soul Boy's headquarters. They're gunna call as soon as they figure it out." Faith replied.
"Alright, then tomorrow we train. But for now, I'm beat. I think I'm gunna go upstairs and jump aboard the Sleep Train. I uh, I had fun with you today Faith. We'll talk more tomorrow 'kay?"
"Sounds good to me B. I enjoyed it too. Thanks. For everything. G'night B."
"Goodnight."
Buffy trudged up the stairs and crawled into bed and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She smiled peacefully in her sleep.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews so far, they really help to motivate me to write more and faster! I hope you are all liking the story!