Faith
stumbled out of bed around noon. She
wasn’t surprised to find that everyone else was up before her; Buffy,
The sun shone
fiercely, reflecting off the snow and the windowpanes, making the yellow
kitchen even brighter. “Damn, remind me
to get some breakfast shades,” she said, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
“Breakfast?
Try lunch. It’s afternoon
already,” Xander said.
“Leave her
alone, Xander,”
Faith rolled
her eyes and then noticed that everyone’s coffees were resting on matching
yellow Tweety Bird placemats; their butts parked on
yellow Tweety Bird chair cushions that covered the
matching oak chairs. “Is there anything
in the kitchen that isn’t yellow?”
“Just us,”
Xander said, grinning.
Faith smiled, looking at
Faith realized that Giles was standing
in the opposite doorway, sipping what she knew had to be
tea, from yet another matching yellow mug, watching them all silently. A brief flicker of guilt passed through her
when she realized that he was probably the only one who’d been up well before
noon. “Well, except for you, G, who
somehow, no matter what the occasion, always seems to be dressed,” Faith said,
pulling out a chair and sitting down at the kitchen table, averting her eyes
from him.
“How’d you sleep?” Buffy asked.
Faith yawned. “Not bad, I guess. Dying for the java and a
shower though. Can tell you that
much,” Faith replied, taking a big gulp of her coffee. “And I’m starving.”
“So what is
the plan for today anyway?” Xander asked, getting up and pouring himself
another cup.
“Well,” Giles began, “there’s quite a
bit actually. Emma will be here around
2:00 o’clock. That will leave plenty of
time to get to know her prior to patrolling.”
Giles turned to Xander. “And you
have an appointment.”
Xander looked shocked. “What kind of appointment?”
Giles proceeded cautiously. “We discussed it before you left for Sunnydale,
the possibility of…”
“Oooh,”
Xander looked shocked. His hand shot up to his patch and for once,
he didn’t have a comeback.
Faith knew that he was having issues
with the entire thing. The both of them
did a lot of talking on the plane, but whenever the subject of his eye came up, Xander would mumble something and then change the
subject. It took a lot of prodding, but
Faith had finally gotten him to talk about it.
She about fell out of
her seat on the plane when she realized that Xander was afraid.
“Dude,” Faith told him. “Can’t hurt any worse then it did when
dickhead gouged it out in the first place.
Besides, the pirate look, it’s so over,” she concluded, smiling and nudging
him with her shoulder.
Faith had felt the relief wash over
him. She believed that Xander had been
hoarding this huge secret from everybody and then he just kind of unloaded it
all on her… and he looked surprised that he actually survived the telling of
it. After everything he had been
through, the poor guy was afraid of the doctor.
There was something ironic in there somewhere.
“Yes,” Giles was saying, bringing her
back to the present, “it took quite a bit of time, but Xander’s medical records
have been shipped here, and it is ready to be, well…”
“Installed?” Faith said, her eyes glinting as she took a sip of coffee.
“For lack of a better
word, yes. Installed,” Giles concluded. “But I believe I would have chosen a
different one.”
“Inserted works,” Buffy added.
“Inserted makes me think of something
entirely different B,” Faith said, glad that Buffy was tagging along for the
ride.
“Please!” Giles implored. “Let us not do this again.”
Faith could see Xander’s entire demeanor
shift. “There’s nothing we can do,
Giles. It’s a Faith thing,” he
said. “You kind of get used to it after
awhile. It’s all sex, sex, sex,
sex. Not that there’s anything wrong
with that.”
“Yeah, like you’d ever get used to
this,” Faith said, standing up and giving her hips a roll.
“Faith…” Giles began.
“I’m just saying,” she said, sitting
down and picking her coffee cup back up.
“With regards to you, Faith, your car
should be delivered either today or tomorrow.”
“Sweet.
My Viper,” Faith said, beaming.
“Things are looking up. Too bad
it’s a convertible. Have I mentioned I
hate winter?”
“If we’re not here,” Giles continued,
barely keeping the exasperation out of his voice, “they will leave the car and
place the keys in the box on the porch.”
“The mailbox,” Faith said,
matter-of-factly.
“Yes, that box.”
“Well, I guess we need to get moving,”
Buffy said, standing up. “There are
three showers in this place and I’m counting four of us that still need one.”
“If you say the last one in is a
rotten…” Xander said.
“No worries, there’ll be no eggs that
are rotten,” Buffy said. “I’m using the
one upstairs. It’s flowery and pretty...
and the shower is a lot bigger than the other two.” Using her slayer speed to unfair advantage,
Buffy bolted out of the room and up the stairs.
“That means I get the one down here,”
“Guess we know where that leaves me,”
Xander said, standing. “If anyone calls
me spider-boy…” He met their eyes, and then left the kitchen.
Faith was uncomfortably aware that only
she and Giles were left in the kitchen.
One on one time had never been big with the two of them, not when there
were others always around. For being the
one who always had something to say, she was suddenly speechless and that
bugged her even more.
Giles was glancing at his cup as he
swirled his tea around, his eyes never wandering in her direction. He slowly moved to the sink and placed his
cup in it. Faith couldn’t be sure, but
he seemed to be as uncomfortable as she was.
She watched him out of the corner of her
eye, not wanting to let on that she was actually spying on him. She wished he would just go somewhere,
anywhere. She wanted more coffee, she
was hungry, and some small part of her believed that if she didn’t move, he
wouldn’t see her
So much for that plan.
“Faith, do you mind?” he asked, walking
over to the table and indicating a previously vacated chair.
“Why would I mind?” she said, blurting
out the first thing that came to mind, and then regretting it immediately.
“How are you?” he asked, joining her at
the table.
Faith eyed him suspiciously. “Why do people keep asking me that?”
“You’ve been through a lot, Faith. It is only natural for people to be concerned
as to how you’re holding up.”
“If I tell you I’m fine and mean it, can
we not bring it up again?”
Giles was studying her face. What was he looking for? Would there be some sign that she was
lying? No, there wouldn’t be any sign,
because she wasn’t lying. “I’m okay. Seriously.”
He sighed. “There are certain things I believe need to
be said. This appears to be as good a
time as any.”
“If you’re going to start lecturing me
on my responsibilities…”
“No!
Heavens no.
Buffy expressed, well, to me at least, that you two have put your past
behind you; that you both are starting anew.
I just wanted to make my peace as well.
There were situations that I could have, no should have, handled better. When you first came to Sunnydale being one of those times.”
“Whoa,” Faith said. “No need to dredge up ancient history, okay?”
It was as if he hadn’t heard her.
“When I found out that your watcher had
been killed, even after Wesley had shown up, I should have done more. With the council mess and then Wesley
appearing unannounced, it all clouded my better judgment. Frankly, Faith, you should have been helped
more and not been left alone in some dilapidated hotel room.”
Faith was shocked. It wasn’t like she was angelic back
then. She’d made her share of mistakes,
some of them huge and unforgivable, but Giles?
It had taken her time to get over B’s apology, accept it, and know that
they had moved on. She had her
suspicions that this Giles thing would take a lot longer to process.
“Giles,” Faith said, more loudly this
time. “Yo, I
get it. It's fine. I just… well, thanks,
but not necessary, okay?”
“It was necessary for me,” Giles
said. “Nevertheless, if you need
anything, to talk, anything, you can come to me. I realize that your past experiences
with watchers has been less than pleasant. I would like to change that. I’m here for you Faith.”
And he meant it. Faith could see it in his eyes. “I promise.
Honest,” she said, holding up her right hand. “I swear and all that stuff.”
“Good,” he said, standing and squeezing
her shoulder gently. “I will leave you
and let you get something to eat.”
“Thanks, Giles… and I mean it.”
“Thank you, Faith.”
By the time Faith had finished, it was
1:30. The closer it got to 2:00 o’clock,
the more curious she got about the new slayer.
Emma had been on the Detroit Hellmouth for over a year, alone, and she
was still alive? Add shy and meek on top
of that, how’d that happen?
After making her way downstairs and into
the living room, Faith was surprised to find that Buffy was there alone,
reading a magazine.
“Where is everybody?”
“Giles drove Xander to get his eye,” she
paused, looking up. “I’m sorry, but does
that sound just wrong to you?”
“Um, yeah, a little bit.”
“That’s what I was thinking.
Faith smiled. “Yep.”
Faith walked over and plopped on the
couch that was situated in front of the picture window. Peeling back the dark curtains, she glanced
out. “Hey, look at all that snow.”
“Faith,” Buffy began, “you really, I
mean really, need to get over this whole snow thing.”
Faith glanced over her shoulder. “I’m sure I will, B. In like April or May.” Faith turned towards the window again and
smiled to herself. “But you can forget
about the entire holy water part of your stash.
Doesn’t work very well when it’s frozen.”
Buffy laughed. “I never thought about that. See?
Look at how helpful you are. You
can teach us all how to slay in freezy goodness. What else?”
Faith turned around and looked at
her. “You’re serious?”
“Yep.”
Faith thought about it for a
moment. “Gotta be careful how you
dress. If it’s really cold and you
layer, you know bundle up really good in a bunch of loose clothes, you won’t be
able to fight very well. You want to
dress as light as you can, and as tight as you can, without freezing your ass
off in the meantime. Oh, and find some
good boots, ones that tie up really tight, with a good thick rubber sole on
them. Nothing worse then losing a boot
in a snow bank or falling on your ass chasing some vamp down a snow packed
alley ‘cause you slipped.”
Buffy looked at her. “You know, I was half-kidding, but I really
never thought about that. Maybe I’m
starting to see your point. Winter does
suck.”
Faith laughed. “See, now you’re feeling my pain, B. The old hellmouth isn’t looking so bad now,
is it?”
“Well, I don’t think I’d go to that
extreme,” she said, smiling.
“Not much we can do about it now, being
here and all,” Faith said, checking out the living room. “Didn’t look at this place when we got here,
but man, what is all this stuff?” she asked, picking up a knick knack that was
sitting on an old roll top desk.
Buffy joined her. “Giles said this was an old watcher’s
house. Umm, not an old
watcher, but his house.”
Faith put the eyesore down and turned to
Buffy. “Do you even know what you’re
saying?”
“Of course I do,” Buffy said, sitting
down. “The watcher wasn’t old, not super
old, but his house kinda is. Inherited it from his
mother or something. Didn’t change it much after that. He was in
“So if he would’ve lived…”
“He probably would’ve been Emma’s
watcher if she ever got called the normal way.”
“They were so close to each other. Why wasn’t he her watcher already? Isn’t it kind of bizzaro
that you have a potential slayer and a watcher and they hadn’t hooked up yet?”
“You could say that,” Buffy said. “Giles said that’s why this guy was in
“If he wouldn’t have
gone boom.”
“Pretty much.”
Faith checked the room out even
more. Everywhere she looked, she saw
bric-a-brac. Old lady
bric-a-brac. It reminded her of
her grandmother’s house. Glass angels,
and candles, and vases, and unicorns were everywhere. In the furthest corner from where Faith
stood, she saw a china cabinet with what had to be antique china in it. The living room was as dark as the kitchen
was light.
Faith briefly wondered why the watcher
had left so many of his mother’s things out.
Did he not have the time, or the heart to get rid of it all?
“Well, that explains a lot,” Faith
said. “The
yellow-kitchen-from-hell definitely screaming old lady.”
Buffy laughed. “Was thinking the same
thing about the bathroom upstairs.
Wallpaper with huge blue flowers on every single wall and the curtains
to match.”
Faith sat back down on the couch. “How long she been dead?”
“No idea. And I’m trying not to think about it too
much… creep factor and all.”
“Good plan.”
From somewhere in the house, a
grandfather clock chimed twice. Faith
looked at Buffy. “2:00
pm huh? Wonder where our new
addition is?”
Buffy shrugged her shoulders. “She’ll be here.”
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to take a peek outside. Who knows?
Maybe she got lost and she’s wandering up and down the street,” Faith
said. She didn’t have the chance to turn
the knob. Someone was knocking on the
door by the time she got to it. “Guess
that answers that. Prompt little thing,”
she said, opening the door.
“Emma,” she said, not exactly sure how
to greet a slayerette. “Come.”
Faith stood back and let her in.
“Faith,” indicating herself, “and that’s Buffy.”
“Hi, Emma,” Buffy said, as she joined
them in the small entryway. “Let me take
your coat.”
Leave it to B to play welcoming
committee. Faith was still trying to get
over what Emma actually looked like. For
some reason when Giles had told them that she was shy and meek, Faith
immediately pictured her to be a book type.
Kind of a dork.
Emma wasn’t either, really.
She was the same height as Faith, but
had the coloring of Buffy, the hair anyway, but not the eyes. Her eyes were dark brown. Her hair was curly and from what Faith could
tell, it spiraled halfway down the girl’s back.
That would get her into a heap of trouble patrolling. Faith had expected someone young, but Emma
wasn’t young. Faith could be wrong, but
she would peg Emma to be her age, or maybe a year or so younger.
Faith’s experience with shy people was
that they lacked the eye contact. Emma
had no problem looking either of them in the eye. Maybe Giles had gotten the wrong description
of her. Suddenly, this wasn’t making any
sense to Faith at all. Shit, maybe it
wasn’t even her.
“You’re Emma?” Faith finally asked.
“That would be me,” she said. “Faith and Buffy. I’ve heard a lot about you both.”
“You have?” Buffy asked.
“Not really,” Emma said, smiling. “Just said that to try and break the ‘who the
hell are you’ tension that was starting to build.”
Faith was going to like this girl.
“We were under the impression that you
were…shy?” Faith asked. “What was that
all about? I’ve met shy, and you ain’t it.”
“Faith!” Buffy exclaimed.
“Not a big deal,” Emma said. “Honestly, I was shy, once upon a time. Then one day, WHAM! I felt great.
Best I ever felt in my life. I
was strong and fast and I just felt different all over the place. Started getting all
confident and stuff. The
confidence did falter momentarily when I found myself being stalked by some
creepy looking guy. Or what I thought
was a creepy looking guy until the dirtbag tried to
bite me.” She looked at Buffy and Faith.
“He tried to bite me.”
Faith tried not to smile, but it didn’t
work. Buffy wasn’t having much luck
either from what Faith could tell.
“So what did you do?” Buffy finally
asked.
Emma walked past them into the living
room and sat down. Buffy and Faith
exchanged glances and followed her.
Buffy settled into a burgundy wingback chair and Faith leaned against
the wall.
“That’s the funny part. I’m not sure.
I pushed him away from me and he, like, flew. He didn’t fall, he flew. I was expecting him just to stumble back a
couple steps. That was kind of neat. Smashed right against a
tree. But then he was up and
coming back towards me. I don’t know how
to fight. Never even took a stupid
self-defense class, but I knew what to do.”
“How?” Faith asked.
“Huge vampire fan.
The old shy thing led to lots of reading. Anne Rice was my total favorite; until she
freaked out and started writing stories that made absolutely no sense to me
whatsoever. You ever read any of her
stuff? Anyway, books, movies, you name
it, if there was a vampire involved, I was there.” Emma paused and looked around. “Nice house.
Anyway, once he tried to bite me, I just knew he was a vampire. I knew it.
Of course I thought I knew it because of all those books I read, but now
I know better.”
“You staked him?” Buffy asked.
“Damn straight I did,” she said,
beaming. “Tree branch,
a little one. It was a feeling I
couldn’t believe.” Emma stopped talking,
looking uncomfortable for the first time since she got there. “I guess I can tell you two, right? Being slayers and all? Kinda like a
sisterhood now, right?”
“You can tell us anything,” Buffy said.
“I missed the first time. Not the vampire, the heart. I had this stick in my hand and I jammed it
into his chest. It was wild; I’d never
stabbed anything before. You don’t
forget that feeling.”
Emma paused to catch her breath. “And then he looked at me, right in the eye,”
Emma continued. “It’s like we were both
waiting for him to turn to dust and then he didn’t. Talk about panic. I figured I was dead for sure. Then I pulled out the stick and slammed it
into his chest again. It felt the
same.” Emma stopped talking and started
mimicking the staking with her right hand, her expression going back to that
place and time. “It’s hard to
explain. It’s like I went to push it in
and it wouldn’t go at first. Just a
little resistance and then butter, it was in.
I felt it go. And I knew I had
him this time. Then poof, he was
gone. Most amazing thing I’ve ever felt
in my life.”
“Welcome to the wonderful world of slayage,” Faith said.
“So you guys have stories of your first
time too?”
Faith arched her eyebrow and then smiled
wickedly, a hundred remarks flashing through her mind.
“Faith…”
Leave it to B to put the kibosh on her
fun.
“Anyway,” Emma said,
the exchange between Faith and Buffy going unnoticed, “what is it with this
house? Looks like my
grandma’s used to.”
Faith watched as she walked over to an
end table, and picked up something. “Oh
my god, she had this same bowl.”
“Wait until you see the kitchen,” Faith
said.
“And the bathroom upstairs," Buffy
added.
“I can hardly wait,” she said,
smiling. “So, what’s going on? Mr. Giles said I should be here at 2:00 to
give, how did he say it,” her voice deepened, “'an
overview of the areas that have the potential for the most vampire activity.' I
like the way he talks. Makes him sound really smart.”
Faith looked at Buffy; she wasn’t sure
what they should do.
“He is really smart, but he isn’t here
at the moment. He had some errands to
run. Why don’t we wait until he gets
back? I’m sure he’ll want to hear about
it,” Buffy said.
“I guess that’s okay,” Emma said. “It’s all kinda
weird, though. I’ve been by myself for
so long. Never told anyone what I was
doing, figured they wouldn’t believe me.
Now I have three other people…”
“Five,” Faith said.
“Five?”
“Yep, Xander and
Faith watched as Emma’s eyes went as
wide as the yellow saucers in the kitchen.
“A witch?
Like she can cast spells and stuff?
You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope, she’s not,” Buffy said.
“No way!
I like witches almost as much as I like vampires. Anne Rice had that entire witch series
too. If I wasn’t reading about vampires,
I was reading about witches. So do you
guys like have sex all the time?” she asked.
“No!” Buffy said, rather too quickly.
“Speak for yourself,
B,” Faith said, laughing.