For personal enjoyment not for profit, if you recognize it, I don't own it, just bending and folding it.
Chapter 12
"So, did you get a chance to talk to her about, you know?" Xander asked when he returned from dropping Willow off.
"Yeah, not the smoothest thing I've ever done. Don't startle a slayer who has a stake in her hand."
Xander raised an eyebrow
"I don't think she was going to stake me, but still not on the recommended list of things to do, she basically kicked me out and said she'd talk to me in a few days."
That call came the day after Christmas, Xander answered the phone and with a quick "Hi Buffy," handed it to Faith.
"Faith, look, I'm sorry I freaked out the other day, can you get together and talk?"
"Sure," Faith answered, "We're pretty much free this week, do you want to come over here?"
ha
"Okay see you in a half an hour."
A half hour later, the bell rang and Aunt Jessica let Buffy in, Faith had just reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Aunt Jessica, this is Buffy Summers, she's the girl whose family we were hired to help move in last weekend. She's a sophomore too. Buffy, this is my Aunt Jessica."
"Jessica Lavelle," Aunt Jessica said holding her hand out to be shaken. "It's a pleasure to meet you Buffy," Faith was sure that Buffy noticed the lack of invitation and the fact that Aunt Jessica's hand didn't cross the threshold.
Buffy stepped in and took Aunt Jessica's hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Lavelle."
"So how are you liking out little town?" Aunt Jessica said as she went back into the kitchen where she prepping stew ingredients to go in the crock pot.
"So far so good, we really just got here in time to have Christmas dinner and other than meeting up with Faith and Xander, I've been unpacking and helping Mom get the gallery ready to re-open."
"Oh, did your mother buy the Marks' Gallery on main? I'd heard they were retiring but hadn't heard what was going in that space."
"Yeah, Mom managed a gallery in Hermosa Beach before we came here, and well – divorce settlement – fresh start. Of course Mom's going for more tribal art and local artisan than Thomas Kinkade which seems to be what the last owner was mainly into so yeah, new different" – Buffy trailed off.
"It sounds like a lovely addition to downtown," Aunt Jessica said patting her hand.
Aunt Jessica went back to putting together the stew she'd been making, "Please ask your mother to call me, we'd love to have you over for dinner."
"I'll let her know to call you," Buffy answered.
Shortly the stew was in the crock pot.
"Mom, I'll get the dishes," Xander offered.
"Thank you Xander. Well, I'm off to bed, night shift," she explained to Buffy. "Buffy it was a pleasure to meet you." Aunt Jessica gave Xander and Faith a one armed hug and a kiss on the forehead before going upstairs. At the same time Faith heard her settle down, buffy stopped talking about the clothes she got for Christmas. She turned to Xander who was just finishing putting things in the dishwasher.
"So Faith told me you know about me."
Xander looked from one girl to the other, "If you mean about the Slayer thing, she told me your name when she learned it from Mr. Post, the Watcher that was here. Hey, rather than have this conversation here, why don't we go over to the Watcher's house to talk?"
"I thought you said the watcher wasn't here yet?" Buffy said turning to Faith.
"He's not, but like helping the Peters and helping you mom move, we do yard work and house work for people – mostly over the summer – technically we're house sitting until the next employee of the London Museum arrives on research sabbatical." Faith answered. "Mr. Giles arrives tomorrow. So that sounds like a good idea."
The three filed out and climbed into Xander's van, in a few minutes they were in at the Watcher's house, Faith let them in and got everybody drinks.
"So, Faith tells me you've staked a few vampires."
"A few, it's hard not to when one of them decides your cousin is lunch the first time you go out to a dance after a football game."
"You didn't tell me that," Buffy said turning to Faith.
"Like I said," Faith answered, "Mr. Post expected that I wouldn't involve myself in things unless I was called, the problem was, I already knew a little about them from my neighbor in Boston and had already used this to stake one that attacked me." She said pulling her key chain out of her pocket and tossing it to Buffy who noticed it was a wooden kubotan with a pointed although not sharpened end.
"you staked a vampire with this?"
"Well, my cross stopped him from biting me initially, but he was still coming at me." Faith answered, spinning a tail. "Xander hitting him didn't really stop him."
"I was going to soft tissue damage, less likely to get the cops called. I know better now," Xander lied said defensively.
"Not your fault." She turned back to Buffy, "So yeah, welcome to La Boca Del Infierno."
"Mouth of the sick?" Buffy asked.
"Infierno, hell, not enfermo." Faith said snickering. "It turns out high school really is hell, or at least on its doorstep. Willow can tell it better, but she has been studying magic and once she opened her inner eye, the school library creeped her out. There is apparently a dimensional week spot under the high school that connects to a hell dimension. It's probably what attracts the weird and the evil to this town."
"Okay that's just not fair," Buffy said. "It's bad enough, my boyfriend decided not to come back to California, my folks think I went off the deep end, I had to move to this small town and oh by the way, I get to go to school right next to hell! Fuck me!" Buffy ranted.
"Well, it is what it is."
"Okay fine, so you said you wanted to spar, do you still want to?"
"You're not going to hurt me are you?" Faith asked.
"I'm pissed, but I'm not pissed at you," Buffy answered.
Xander interjected, "Why don't you take some of your annoyance out on the heavy bag and then maybe spar when you've calmed down."
"I've never hit a heavy bag before."
"come on I'll show you," Faith said getting up and walking bout the back door.
The other two teens followed as Faith unlocked and turned on the lights in the two car garage. The building was a garage workshop that had been mostly converted into a dojo. She toed off her sneakers by the door and lead Buffy who had done the same, over to the corner where a heavy bag and wall mounted wooden dummy were. She grabbed a couple pair of gloves off the shelf and offered a set to Buffy.
"No reason to mess up your knuckles while you get used to it."
Xander took up position bracing the heavy bag a professional grade hundred and ten pound bag.
Faith demonstrated a few techniques and then stepped back.
"I don't know how strong you are, Buffy, but please no hits that would pin me to the wall with this." Xander requested.
"I can do that," Buffy then proceeded to kick and punch the bag bouncing from side to side finally after almost fifteen minutes, Xander called a halt. Buffy stepped back breathing hard. She put
"If you want to keep going, can I ask Faith to take over?"
"Thanks, I think I'm up for a little more controlled action."
Faith dropped down from the peg board on the wall that she'd been working her way around after she finished warming up. She walked over and grabbed a padded helmet and mouth her mouth guard. "Remember, I don't have slayer healing and I'd rather not sit down to dinner with a black eye."
They started off slow, it was obvious to Faith that Buffy was stronger and faster, but Faith was mostly able to hold her own due to superior skill, she could also tell that Buffy was going to be kicking her ass has very soon. Faith was able to throw Buffy more than once but due to the blonde's strength and speed wasn't able to pin her. If she'd been going for debilitating or deadly, she figured she had about an even chance for now. After a several minutes, she called time.
"Faith, it sure seems like you hit harder than my old watcher did."
"Well, we've been doing Hapkido since I moved here and lifting as part of being on the Cross Country team," Faith offered.
"If you say so," Buffy said skeptically.
"Well there is one other thing that might explain it, but it's just conjecture."
"What is it some weird potential thing, because I can tell you that I wasn't noticeably stronger than my friends before I became the Slayer?"
"Not really, but it does have something to do with slaying," Faith answered. "I told you that we've slain a couple dozen vampires. Well there's accounts in the Watcher's diary of how slayers get stronger as they fight more monsters. There's also accounts of what's referred to as aspect of the demon, certain creatures that if you get covered in their blood or other nastiness, you can take on some of the abilities of the demon, telepathy, telekinesis" –
"So how does this work with vampires?"
"Dust," Faith answered. "have you ever felt horny and hungry, or really restless after fighting vampires?"
Buffy blushed and looked at Xander, who held his face impassive.
"I really haven't had more than a dozen encounters with Vampires, the only time that happened was after the gym and I just figured it was the relief from being alive after fighting a master vampire and his minions."
"It probably was that at least in part," Faith assured her, "but we've noticed that when we've been up close when staking a vampire that we end up feeling really keyed up and aggressive, it could be from breathing in dust from the vamps. Thankfully going to mass seems to cleanse the worst of it, but we're both stronger and faster than the other kids on the team, something we both are trying not to show. Father Murray says that seeking the aspect of the demon is a bad thing but that we can't stop it from happening in trying to stop vamps."
"Father Murray?" Buffy asked,
"Our parish priest," Xander explained. "He started asking questions when we showed up to mass three times in one week. Not typical teenager behavior in his estimation, he provides us with holy water and blessed crosses and rosaries."
"So he knows about" –
"Apparently he and Father Romero were briefed by Rome when they took this post."
"But he knows about you?"
"He knows that this town is dangerous and he know that you can't not do something once you know."
"So who doesn't know?"
"My mom," Xander said.
"But Willow and Jesse?"
"They know," Faith confirmed. "Willow carries a cool crystal that she can store sunlight in."
"Does everybody at school know?" Buffy asked looking distressed.
"No, I mean people know not to go out alone after dark, our friends particularly, we explained one of the vampires at the Bronze as a college creep that tried to drug me," Faith answered.
"Okay," Buffy said her mind obviously spinning.
After she thought for a minute, she looked at Faith, "Were you holding back?"
"No, you've got me on strength and speed, the times I got you were on technique."
"Do you want to spar?" she asked turning to Xander.
"Okay," Xander responded, he slipped into the bathroom and put on an athletic support and cup before returning to grab his mouth guard and take the helmet from Faith.
"You don't have to pull your punches unless they're face shots," buffy told Xander. "I can heal from pretty much anything other than a broken bone in under a day."
"Okay, so no face shots and don't break anything."
Xander wasn't as strong as Buffy, but he was closer to her strength than Faith. He wasn't going to explain the Primal as that could only be explained by D'Hoffryn's interference. After the third time, Xander picked himself up off the ground for the third time, he rubbed his chest.
"we might want to invest in some chest pads for sparring," he said rubbing his sternum.
Buffy just nodded, looking a little chagrined. "So we wait for Giles to get here and then he can help me train and for whatever may come."
"Let's go inside," Faith said. "There might actually be something coming already."
"You've got to be kidding me," Buffy exclaimed.
Faith lead them inside and opened a book that was sitting on a table of the den that had been turned into the library. "if we are reading this right, she pointed out a phrase, 'They will gather and be gathered the vessel pours life while waxes the crescent moon past the solstice, Three score years captivity shall come to an end at the harvest.'"
"What does that have to do with Sunnydale and with us?"
Faith pulled a microfiche print out that a watcher had made notes on. "In 1937 there was an earthquake that caused a church to be buried, at the same time, the leader of the Order of Aurelius, a five-hundred-year old German vampire, disappeared after being sighted in Sunnydale with rumors that he was trying to open the hellmouth"
"Ugh," Buffy groaned. "Some people get casseroles, or cookies as a welcome gift, I apparently get a possible apocalypse."
"It might not mean anything, but the Watcher's journals show that either seers direct the Slayer where to go or sometimes fate moves the Slayer and it's usually to a place where they will be needed, so I looked for things that could happen around the beginning of the year."
"When does this happen?" Buffy asked,
"The crescent moon is visible from January tenth until the thirteenth, so we've got two weeks to figure out if it's happening and where," Faith said looking Buffy.
"So when does Giles get here?" Buffy said eyeing the newspaper clipping
"Tomorrow morning," Xander said looking at the calendar.
"Okay then," Buffy said. She looked around. "So is this Watcher central?"
"Yeah, Mr. Post was originally set up in the school library but turns out that that's also near the location of the hell mouth so he moved everything here."
Buffy eyed the computers, and the stereo.
"Yeah, the computers aren't the normal Watcher thing, but Willow is a bit of a hacker. And since we introduced Mr. Post to my aunt as a Latin tutor, so having resources here to do school work also helps."
"No, it's cool, having more resources is a good thing, Merrick really only had a dozen books, so more is good."
Buffy didn't say anything for a few minutes, just wandering the room and looking at things around the room.
"I'm overwhelmed, but it feels a lot less like, 'One girl in all the world,' when it sounds like you guys will be supporting me and not just in a pat on the back sort of way."
"Absolutely, the idea of a lone hunter is asinine," Faith assured here.
"Welcome to the Hellmouth," Xander offered.