When they got home Buffy helped Faith upstairs and into their bedroom, the younger Slayer still obviously shaken by the events of the morning. Principal Wood had agreed to let her take the rest of the day off as she had hastily explained to him what was going on. Faith had clung to her the whole way home, holding her hand in an almost bone crushing grasp.
"Do you want something to eat?" Buffy asked softly, her hands holding Faith's in the younger girl's lap as the brunette sat on the edge of Buffy's bed the blonde Slayer kneeling in front of her. Faith shook her head her eyes on the floor and Buffy wrangled one of her hands from Faith's grasp and used it to lift the younger girl's chin so they were making eye contact. The depth of pain she could see swirling in the former rogue's dark brown eyes took her aback and her heart broke for the broken girl sitting in front of her.
Faith had been quiet on the way home but Buffy had caught a few mumbled words here and there and Faith's insistence that she was bad and evil, things that the brunette had been told her entire life made Buffy want to go back and punish everyone who had ever looked down on her dark counterpart. She would have to include herself on that list she mused as she brushed some hair away from Faith's forehead. There had been a time where she herself had found it easier to brush Faith off as evil rather than to look behind the facade and realise that the younger Slayer had literally been falling apart on the inside, looking and waiting for anyone to save her.
"I-I didn't mean to, I-I didn't know, I-I didn't mean to," Faith was mumbling and Buffy was pulled from her reverie when she felt hot tears fall onto her hand which was still cupping the brunette's cheek.
"Faith?" Buffy asked.
"H-he came out of nowhere I-I didn't know," Faith said her lower lip trembling.
"Who came out of nowhere?" Buffy asked confused.
"A-and he won't leave m-me alone, and the other t-the Boss made me d-do it, I-I didn't wanna, B you gotta believe me, I didn't w-wanna do it," Faith said her hands grasping onto Buffy's forearms.
"Oh Faith," Buffy said finally cottoning on to what the younger girl was talking about.
"And now, B t-they won't leave me alone," Faith continued shaking her head to try and stop the tears that were running freely down her face.
"Professor Wirth and Alan Finch, they are the ones who have been coming to you?" Buffy asked.
Faith nodded but hearing those names spoken out loud for the first time in years seemed to be too much for the former rogue. Her face crumpled before she ripped her hands from Buffy's and buried her face in her hands her whole body seeming to fold in on itself as she broke down. Buffy's shock at finding out who 'they' had been stopped her from reacting to her counterpart's tears and she found her mind ticking over to what that could mean. They were dealing with the first evil who could be any dead person it wanted, it would only make sense for it to appear to Faith as the two people she had been responsible for ending their lives. What a better way to break a Slayer than to torture her with the faces of the two people who would forever be branded in her mind. Why hadn't they thought of it before? It was so obvious; of course it would be the First who was trying to eradicate the Slayer line who would be tormenting the former rogue.
Faith's anguished cries eventually pulled the blonde from her thoughts and a flash of guilt crossed her face for getting lost in her thoughts whilst her dark counterpart was so obviously hurting. By this time the brunette was nearly hysterical and the gasping sounds as she struggled to get air into her lungs is what finally sprung the blonde Slayer into action.
Standing she sat on the bed next to Faith and pulled the younger girl over so she was sitting on her lap. Pulling her tight against her so her back was flush against Buffy's chest the blonde Slayer slowed and over exaggerated her breathing.
"Faith you have to calm down or you're going to make yourself sick. Just breathe with me okay, breathe with me," Buffy said as the brunette Slayer struggled for air her head whipping around to try and see Buffy, "Don't think of anything else just concentrate on your breathing, you're okay just breathe with me."
Faith's body shuddered as she strained to get her breathing under control her hands held firmly in Buffy's as the blonde Slayer breathed with her the sound of their breathing the only noise in the otherwise silent room. Finally Faith's breathing came back under control and the brunette Slayer relaxed against Buffy's body her head falling back onto the blonde Slayer's shoulder obviously exhausted.
"I know you never meant to do it," Buffy said quietly, "I think we all knew," she continued sliding them up the bed so that her back was resting against the headboard Faith still sitting in her lap.
"You 'member that night where we did the exchange in the cafeteria?" she asked and Faith nodded, "I could tell then, you were so torn and I tried to pass it off as you wanting to come back for that precious knife but I think I knew deep down that it was more than that, you wanted to come back to us, to me."
"S'not your fault B, I was fucked up, everything was so fucked up," Faith sighed her head falling back onto Buffy's shoulder.
"After all of this is over, I-I think you should stay. I don't want you going back there," Buffy said feeling the way Faith tensed when she mentioned the prison.
"Stay with you?" Faith asked quietly.
"Yeah, you won't be doing yourself or anyone else any favours being in there, and y-you belong here," Buffy said. Faith was quiet, whether she was contemplating what Buffy had just said or if she had reached a decision Buffy didn't know but she smiled when she felt the brunette Slayer relax back against her.
"Tell me what happened while I've been gone," Faith said.
"Oh it's a fascinating tale. I started college and before you laugh I was totally academic for awhile I even beat Will in an assignment, and I'm not lying you can ask her. Well turns out there was this gigantic secret government operation being run underneath the campus and they made this sort of demon human hybrid called Adam who totally kicked my ass but then we went total Harry Potter on his ass and made me into this sort of super Slayer and I took him down. Then this hell God came to town, total bitch but she had really nice clothes and she was after Dawn because she's the key which I already told you about and well the huge battle with her sent me six feet below again. Oh and this one is a real kicker, really you won't believe it but Willow was a big bad, see these super nerds tried to take me down, Andrew downstairs he was one of them, long story, but after Tara died Will channelled all sorts of dark magicks and let's just say you wouldn't have been able to call her Red for awhile there, got all kinds of bad but Xander talked her down before she could end the world and now the First evil is after the Slayer line so all in all not much has changed in good old Sunnydale," Buffy finished taking a deep breath.
When the dark Slayer didn't reply Buffy tried to turn her head to get a glimpse of the younger girl but the way they were sitting prevented her from getting a look at her face. She smiled to herself when she realised that Faith's breathing was slow and her head was heavy as it rested back against her shoulder. She supposed it made sense the day had been emotionally draining for the younger Slayer, although Buffy figured the past couple of years had been emotionally draining and her dark counterpart had probably never felt safe enough to ever properly rest. She looked up as the door to her bedroom opened slowly and Willow's head peeked in, seeing that no one was indecently exposed the witch came fully into the room.
"I saw the Jeep and I knew you must be home," Willow said quietly.
"There was a bit of an incident at school so I thought I should bring Faith home," Buffy replied.
"What happened?" Willow asked.
"They appeared to her again, said some pretty horrible stuff," Buffy said unconsciously tightening her arms around Faith, "But here's the thing she told me that the ones who have been haunting her are Alan Finch and Professor Wirth so I was thinking."
"That that sounds an awful lot like some big baddie that can be any dead person it wants," Willow finished.
"Exactly. So now we will have to explain to her about the First and hopefully help her understand that they are not real that it's just some uber bad messing with her head," Buffy said.
"But for what purpose? I mean sure he's been messing with all of us, but why would he put so much time into torturing Faith? And not just with the Casper impressions only without the friendly part, he's made all those guards do horrible things to her, what could that achieve?"
"I don't know," Buffy sighed bringing a hand up and running it tenderly over Faith's cheek, "I mean technically the Slayer line runs through her, maybe he wants her as weak as he could get."
"Maybe," Willow mused, "So, I've noticed that the two of you are a lot less stabby these days," the redheaded witch said taking in their current position.
"I don't know what it is, seeing her when she first arrived just sparked this feeling inside of me and it's like I get this warmth from being near her that I never had before. It might be the Slayer connection thing Giles was always talking about, but I just feel like it's up to me to take care of her because n-no really has before," Buffy finished quietly.
"Yes, must be that pesky Slayer connection, couldn't have anything to do with old feelings coming back," Willow smirked.
"Old feelings, Will in case you don't remember last time she was here it ended up with her sleeping with my boyfriend and me threatening to kill her, not to mention the time before that when she killed a man, went over to the dark side where I eventually put her in a coma for eight months. I'd hardly call that an attack of the warm fuzzies," Buffy said incredulously.
"Uh huh, how are things in Egypt this time of year? I hear they have an amazing river there."
"Will what are you going on about?" Buffy asked her forehead screwed up in confusion.
"You'll figure it out eventually," the redhead said happily, "Are you going to stay up here all afternoon because a few of the girls are starting to get antsy I thought maybe you could take them few some drills or something."
"I-I think I'm okay here for awhile, get Kennedy to take them through some drills and then I'll take them out Slaying tonight," Buffy said.
"Okay. Ya know Buff Faith sure does look cute all snuggled up on you like that," Willow said her eyes twinkling as she left the room.
To say Buffy was confused would be an understatement. She couldn't see the younger Slayer's face with how they sat but she had to admit to herself that it didn't feel bad to have the brunette pulled tightly against her chest and to feel the way Faith's body hummed against hers when the dark Slayer made contented noises as she slept. If she was being honest with herself she had never held anyone quite like this before, she had never wanted to hold anyone like this before. Angel had held her once and in his arms she had felt safe. With Riley she had subconsciously never felt safe as she knew that out of the two of them she was the one who did the protecting. Yet here with Faith knowing that she was the one giving the younger girl strength and comfort it gave her a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach that was all too much like.
"No," she said into her bedroom, "No it's not like that."
But it could be, a little voice teased in the back of her head. No this was the girl she had once referred to as her bestest new little sister. This was all that was, those feelings of protectiveness at seeing Faith in distress were all about Slaying sisterly bonds. They had nothing to do with the way her heart clenched as Faith moved on her lap so she was curled up in a ball on top of her, or the way that she smiled involuntarily as the brunette let out a contented sigh snuggling in under Buffy's chin.
"No," she said her lips finding their way to the top of the slumbering girl's head of their own accord, "totally not like that."
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When Buffy took the Potential Slayers out to patrol later that night Faith was left alone in the house with Dawn, Willow and Giles. Whilst the three held no grudge against the former rogue Faith still sought refuge in the blonde Slayer's bedroom somehow seeking the blonde's presence even when she wasn't there. They had spent the rest of the evening explaining to her what the First evil was and what he could do and she had assured them that she now understood that they weren't real. Only she hadn't really believed the words that were coming from her own mouth. They would be angry if they thought she didn't believe they were real. It would be worse for her if they thought that's what she had been saying. But that look in Buffy's eyes and the way the blonde had involuntarily reached for her hand when Faith could feel herself getting upset made her want to believe that they weren't real.
When she woke up from her nap she had been safely tucked away in the blonde Slayer's arms. To Faith it had felt like home. Never in her entire life had she felt so warm, so safe, so unlike the unworthy scum she knew she really was. But with Buffy, sometimes it felt like maybe she wasn't like that. Buffy had a way of making her feel protected, like they couldn't get her when Buffy was near. And here surrounded by the blonde's things, by her smell Faith felt safer then she had done in the living room with three other people, as if Buffy's possessions could protect her from her nightmares simply because they belonged to the Californian.
She was tired, no she was exhausted the stress of their announced visits kept her on edge all the time. Lying on Buffy's bed Faith grabbed Mr. Gordo and held him tight to her chest pretending that it was the Slayer herself that she could feel close to her heart. She was determined to stay awake until her blonde counterpart came home but surrounded by Buffy's scent Faith felt herself relaxing and her eyes drooped until she could no longer keep them open and she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
She was woken later not knowing how long had passed by the soft voice that she longed to hear. Opening her eyes groggily she smiled at the blonde Slayer who stood next to the bed smiling softly down at her. She frowned, confused for a moment when she realised the Slayer was dressed in different clothes from when she left for patrol but brushed it off assuming the blonde had simply ruined her outfit whilst slaying which wasn't a rare occurrence.
"Faithy I want to show you something."
"What is it B?" Faith asked sitting up on the bed and rubbing her eyes.
"It's downstairs, come on it's exciting."
"Exciting? What do you mean? What's going on?" Faith asked frowning.
"Come on Faithy I want it to be a surprise."
"B you know how I feel about surprises," Faith said.
"You hate them because you don't like not being in control, but come on Faithy it's me, don't you trust me?"
"You know I do," Faith said softly.
"Well come on I want to show it to you."
Faith nodded and followed the blonde from the room and down the stairs, ignoring Willow who called her name as she passed the living room and stopped in front of the door.
"Go on, it's outside. I can't wait for you to see it you're gonna die."
Faith smirked at the excited smile on the blonde Slayer's face and shook her head before opening the front door and walking out onto the porch.
"I don't see it B," she said looking around into the darkness.
"Look closer silly, it's not a good surprise unless you have to work for it just a little."
Faith stepped off the porch and walked down the path keeping her eyes peeled for whatever it was the blonde was talking about. Looking back at the blonde who stood on the porch smiling at her she was surprised when she bumped into what felt like a wall of concrete and found herself sprawled on the ground. Looking up her eyes widened when she saw the most hideous vampire she had ever seen. The creature growled as it pulled her up by her collar and she shrunk back in it's grasp as she came face to face with it's dripping fangs. This was not like any vampire she had ever seen, it's face had been distorted by age and it's grey skin looked stretched over bony skin.
"B, help me," she gasped trying to twist in the vampires arms to face the blonde.
"Don't you like your surprise Faithy?"
Faith's eyes widened in pain as the vampire sunk it's fangs into her neck. She had been bitten by a vampire before but this was different. The vampire wasn't sucking her blood it felt more like his fangs were injecting something into her blood stream. When he was done the vampire dropped her to the ground and she fell like a sack of bricks hitting the ground hard and staying there. Whatever had been on the creature's fangs left her unable to move and she felt an unbelievable cold spreading from the puncture wound on her neck. Lying there shivering on the ground Buffy knelt down in front of her and whispered in her ear.
"Surprise."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed that. Please review it feeds my muse.