As
they sat in the kitchen talking, Faith’s first reaction to Emma was one of
surprise. Surprise that she didn’t have any issues talking to her and Buffy
about all the weirdness she had seen over the last year. But then again, not
like she had anyone else to talk to before today.
Emma told them that she wasn’t an only child; she had an older brother off
somewhere ‘finding himself’. Both of her parents were the career type and
worked all sorts of weird hours. Emma spent a lot of time alone and that’s when
she usually read. If there was a book about anything supernatural, there was a
good chance that Emma had read it.
As she talked, Faith found that what Emma knew about vampires was mixed with
both fact and what some author had made up. She would need to mention that to
Giles. The difference between what was true and what wasn’t could save her life
one day.
Faith’s thoughts immediately went to research as Emma talked about all the
reading she had done. Emma would eat that research shit up. Good thing too.
Research and Faith didn’t go hand in hand and having someone there to relieve
some of the burden was never a bad thing. Not that there’d been much research
lately, but still, it could happen.
Emma was only 19. Faith had been wrong about her age. Faith needed to remember
to ask Giles what happened to potentials that never got called. Could there be
a slayer out there somewhere who was in her 30’s? In her 40’s? Faith smiled to
herself as she imagined an old woman waking up one morning feeling better than
she had in years.
She was just about to say as much when she heard a commotion coming from the
living room. “Looks like they’re back,” Faith said.
“It matches, Xander,” Giles said, as he hung his coat on the hook just inside
the front door. “They’re identical. You cannot tell one from the other.”
“He’s right, Xander,”
“So, I got my uber-attractive studly look back, huh?” he said, with a small
grin.
“Damn straight, you do,” Faith said, joining them in the living room. “Look at
you. Looks good. And you know I don’t just say shit to hear myself talk.”
Faith couldn’t believe he had gone through almost all the preliminary surgery
in Italy, he even got the damn mold made, and once he found out that it was
done, and that his new eye was ready, he refused to go and get it. When Giles
had found out, he tried to contact Xander, but he’d already high tailed it to
Giles finally convinced Xander that it would be the thing to do before they
left for Sunnydale and the entire Master mess. Xander told Giles that he’d take
care of it when they got back.
Looks like the watcher kept him to it, and thankfully, Xander kept his word.
“Xander, it looks great!” Buffy said. “Guess I don’t need to ask how it went.”
“Splendidly,” Giles said.
“I’m not sure what everyone is talking about,” Emma said. “But you look fine to
me.” She turned to Faith. “What are we talking about?”
Faith wasn’t sure if she should tell her. It was Xander’s eye, not hers. “Ask
him,” she finally said.
“You must be Emma,” Giles said, extending his hand and walking towards her.
“I’m Rupert Giles, Buffy and Faith’s watcher, and now yours too. Pleasure to
meet you.”
“You’re
the one I talked to on the phone,” she said, accepting his hand. “You look
different than I thought you would. Older.”
“Well,
how nice,” Giles stammered briefly and then recovered. “Did all go well with
the introductions?”
“Yep, went really well,” Emma said. “They made me feel like I fit right in.
Weird, feels like I’ve known them longer than just today.”
“She’s right.” Buffy said.
“And the shy thing,” Faith began. “Not an issue. You got the queen of the
supernatural here. Research is going to be a breeze for her.”
“Research?” Emma asked.
“Don’t ask,” Xander said. “I’m Xander, by the way.” He walked up to her and
shook her hand.
“And I’m Willow,” she said, smiling.
“Oh! You’re the witch,” Emma said.
“Um, yeah, I’m a witch,”
“Faith and Buffy were just telling me about all of you. It’s, I mean, wow,
great to meet you all,” Emma gushed. “First the vampire slayer thing, then
witches. This is too cool for words.”
“Look at that,” Xander said. “The naïveté of youth.”
“She’s
nineteen, Xander,” Buffy said.
“She’s older than you were when you started and not like she’s as young as some
of the potentials were back in Sunnydale,” Faith added.
“I was just saying…” Xander began.
“Whatever, Sinbad,” Faith added, turning and heading back towards the kitchen.
“Faith,” Xander followed her. “I already told you, Sinbad a sailor, not a
pirate and he has both his eyes.”
“So do you.” She winked at him.
“Ahh, you set me up.”
“And I didn’t even know you were getting the new eye. How good am I?”
Buffy, Emma and Giles came into the kitchen on Faith’s last comment.
“Faith, what did I say earlier?” Giles said.
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not all about that, Giles. Not even talking about
that.”
“About what?” Emma asked.
“Faith’s preoccupation with sex,” Xander supplied.
“I am not preoccupied with sex,” Faith huffed. “I just like it a lot. And ever
since I became a slayer, I like it a lot more often.”
“Really?” Emma’s saucer eyes were back.
“Faith…” Giles cautioned.
“Yo, you’re the one who brought this up,” Faith said.
“I did not bring this up,” Giles said. “I just believe it is inappropriate to
be constantly speaking of one’s sex life in front of others. Especially others
we’ve just met.”
“Giles,” Buffy said. “Losing battle.”
Faith watched as Giles looked at Buffy and then nodded his head in agreement.
“Emma,” Giles began, “did you bring the documents I asked for?”
“If you mean the maps, yep, got ‘em right here. Be back in a sec.”
Once Emma left the room,
“Who told her I was a witch?”
“Can we please refrain from all the sexual innuendos for at least one day?”
“Does she know I have a glass eye?”
“Faith told her you were a witch.”
“Maybe I did, but I didn’t tell her about Sinbad.”
Emma strolled back into the kitchen, her arms full of maps, all bickering
stopped.
“What?” she asked. “Did I miss something?”
A chorus of ‘No’s’ immediately followed.
XXXXX
Faith tossed the yellow placemats haphazardly onto the counter next to the
yellow microwave and Giles spread the maps out over the kitchen table.
“Please begin, Emma,” he said.
“Okay, thanks.” Emma stood, chewing on her bottom lip, checking out the maps
that Giles had spread out. After rearranging a few, she started talking.
“Well,” she began. “This is Metro, the airport you flew in to. The airport’s
not actually in
“Like
what?” Faith asked.
“There’s Greektown and Mexicantown. Good food, good places to eat. They have a
few casinos now, so if you like to gamble those are there. They have dance
clubs and comedy clubs, stuff like your normal big cities have, just not as
much. They have a new ballpark that I heard is pretty nice. Never been there
myself, but it’s not like it’s the season for that. And hockey, the normal city
stuff.”
“What about Motown? Where is that at?” Buffy asked.
Emma smiled. “Well, it’s not a town exactly. At least I don’t think it is. It’s
a museum I guess, a really small one. A recording studio too, I believe. Not
sure if they use it still or if it’s just part of a tour. Motown, from what I
can tell is more of a sound, a reputation, not an actual town.”
Faith glanced at B, whose expression showed a wide-eyed ‘I didn’t know’ look.
“And right now, you’re not actually in
"Not as unlikely as you think," Xander quipped.
Emma's eyes grew big. "I hadn't thought of that! It would explain a lot.
Oh, and they have clubs, and the theatres and their own casinos. Cleaner--God
is it cleaner. But don’t try to go there if you don’t have your birth
certificate. Need to make sure you’re not a terrorist or something.
“Where do you live?” Xander asked, walking to the refrigerator and grabbing a
soda.
“About twenty miles north of here.”
“And
where is here exactly?” Buffy asked, snatching the can of soda out of Xander’s
hand with a smile. Xander proceeded to go back to the refrigerator and grab
another one.
“I’ll take one of those too, please,” Emma said. “You’re about twenty-five
miles out. You’re a little more west of
“So where do we start?” Giles asked. “Downtown?”
Emma sighed. “Yep. If you want to see any vampires, that’s where they’ll be.”
She popped the lid on the soda Xander handed her. “Thanks,” she said, taking a
big sip.
“Then we get our supplies and load up the van,” Giles said.
“I have my own car,” Emma volunteered. “All of us won’t fit in it, but I could
drive too.”
“I would prefer we all stay together right now, Emma,” Giles said. “Until we
know what we’re up against, there is most definitely safety in numbers.”
“Okay, just putting it out there.”
“Yo, Giles, hate to break up the party, but B and I are tapped out. Don’t have
anything. Couldn’t bring any stakes with us in our carry-on, you know?” Faith
said. “I have stuff in my car, but it’s not here yet.”
“I assumed as much,” Giles said. “This way, please.”
They all followed Giles into the basement, where he led them to a huge crate
that was hidden under the stairs.
“The previous watcher was obviously prepared in case he was needed,” Giles
said, opening the crate that held more weapons then Faith had seen in a while.
“Damn!” Faith said.
“I think there’s more in that crate then you had in your chest back home,
Buffy,”
“Damn fine workmanship that was,” Xander said, obviously reminiscing about
something.
“Buffy’s chest?” Faith asked, smirking.
“Since we don’t know what we’re dealing with, exactly,” Giles said, apparently
choosing to ignore Faith’s latest comment. “I believe we should keep to the
smaller weapons. With our larger number, the smaller weapons should not be a
problem. We’re new to this hellmouth. In Sunnydale, you could chance walking
down the street with a sword in your hand. That may not be the case here.”
“Giles?” Buffy asked.
“Yes,” he said, moving out of the way so the others could have access to the
crate.
“Faith and I were talking earlier, and I guess there’s certain tools a slayer
needs when working in the cold.”
“Such as?” he asked, taking his own stake and putting it in his jacket pocket.
“Boots, stylin’ black leather coat, gloves,” Faith said. “Did I mention totally
kickin’ boots?”
“We will be going shopping tomorrow. The change in weather has been taken into
consideration,” Giles said with a smile. “Not to worry, ladies. The council may
be gone, but their philosophy, or some of it, lives on.”
“The mall,” Buffy said. “We need to go to the mall. We’ve survived the
destruction of The Hellmouth not once, but twice, if that doesn’t scream
shopping, nothing does.”
“The mall?”
“God help us,” Xander said, shaking his head and securing his own weapons.
“I know some good ones,” Emma said. “I’m sure we can find just what you’ll
need. Being your humble tour guide and all, that’s the least I can do.”
“We are so out numbered,” Xander said, looking at Giles.
“I believe you may be correct,” Giles said, admitting defeat.
XXXXX
Taking I-96, they made it downtown in less than a half an hour. Emma directed
Giles to a parking structure adjacent to one of the casinos. During the
weekend, the parking structures were open to the public and parking was free.
“The casinos are pretty popular,” Emma said, as they all got out of the van.
“Usually people just park and use the passageway straight into the casino.
Others park and head out to the coffee shops, bars, and restaurants that are
open later. Parking around here is horrible. So instead of driving around
looking for a place to park, they drop their cars off here and walk.”
“Can I ask you a question?” Buffy said.
“Shoot,” Emma replied.
“You live kinda far away from here, why did you come down here at all?”
“Sounds like a simple enough question, but it’s really not.” Emma stopped
walking and turned to face Buffy. “My parents were… are never home. There was
this big battle about me going to college. I didn’t want to. They basically
ignored me for the first seventeen years of my life. Why should I do something
just because they wanted me to? We fought about it for almost two years. They
couldn’t physically make me go, so I didn’t. Then this whole slayer thing
kicked in. That vamp, the first one I staked, was down here. I got pissed off
one night, climbed in my car and just started driving. I wound up downtown and
did what everyone else does, parked my car and started walking. Wanted
something to drink and I passed a coffee shop that was open on my way into
town. Between here and there…”
“You met the creepy guy who turned out to be a vamp.” Faith finished for her.
“In a nutshell, yep. So the nights my folks aren’t home, which seems to be
almost every night, I climb in my car and come down here,” she said.
“And if they’re home?” Faith asked.
“If they’re home, I just wait until they’re asleep. They’re so dead to the
world when the finally get in, it’s not hard to do.”
“It is possible that you didn’t just happen to end up down here, Emma,” Giles
said. “It could be that the slayer in you knew you’d find the most activity
here, and instinct guided you. Being new, you may not have recognized it. Comments
have been made that this isn’t a place to come after dark, especially alone.”
“He’s got a point,” Faith said. “Ever been down here before that? Alone even?”
“A
few times with my folks for baseball games and stuff when I was a kid, but
that’s about it. Never would’ve even considered coming down here by myself at
night. That’s just crazy.”
“Welcome to the wonderful world of slayer vibes,” Faith said, giving Emma a
light push.
“If this is anything like Sunnydale,” Buffy said, as they all began walking
again. “Her vibes will be on overload. There’s gotta be demon hotspots. Feels
weird to be starting all over again. No matter what was going on, we always
knew where to go. I have no clue here. I don’t like that feeling. It’s strange
and kinda icky… and I think I kinda miss Willy.”
“I’m sure they will be most helpful,” Giles said, as they made their way down
to the main floor of the parking structure and out onto the street. “All of
your slayer attributes will be. And if you recall, Buffy, when you first arrived
in Sunnydale, you didn’t know much, either.”
“But Angel did,” Buffy said. “In his way, he showed me the ropes, where to go,
what to do.” Buffy stopped and looked around. “Not seeing an Angel here
anywhere.”
“Angel?” Emma asked.
“Vampire with a soul,” Xander said. “Both him and Spike. Two vampires that have
souls. Makes them good vampires.”
“Good
vampires? Vampires don’t have souls, do they?” Emma said. “Never stopped to
think about it.”
“No, they do not, Emma. The demon takes control and the soul typically leaves
the body. Well, it does leave the body, but in the cases of Angel and Spike,
circumstances arose that restored their souls to them. Do not be fooled. They
are exceptions, and I am highly doubtful that we will run into anything like
that here,” Giles said. “It is most unlikely that you will ever come in contact
with a souled vampire.”
“And if you do,” Xander said, “don’t date them.”
Emma snorted. “Who would date a vampire? That’s the dumbest thing I ever
heard.”
Faith glanced at Buffy, who had stopped to examine something really interesting
on her sleeve. Ha! Subtle, B. She might as well be wearing a big old sandwich
board about how she had knocked boots with not one, but two vampires. Emma
would have a field day with that one. But since Faith ventured into that
territory once herself, she wasn't bringing it up.
“That’s the second time you’ve done that to me,” Emma said. “All this inside
joke stuff. One day…” her voice trailed off.
Emma led them out of the parking structure. They moved past the coffee shop,
the one she had planned on stopping at one night last year. Emma kept walking,
leading them further and further downtown.
“Beginning to wonder if there’s a point to this,” Faith said. “We’ve been
walking, for what? A half an hour? And I haven’t seen anything. Are we sure
“Not sure about the hellmouth part, but I know there are vampires down here.
Just not sure where they are right now,” Emma said, the confusion spreading
across her face.
“Maybe they heard we’re here,” Xander said. “Three slayers on one hellmouth
bound to make any vamp think twice before messing with…Ugh…”
“Xander!” Buffy said reaching out to grab him. “Are you okay?”
“Where’d that hole come from?” He said, regaining his balance. “Why is there a
hole in the middle of the street?”
“Potholes,” Emma said. “Welcome to
“Need I say more?” Faith asked. “Kept telling you people, but no one would
listen to me.”
“Telling them what?” Emma asked.
“Winter sucks.”
“She’s right. It pretty much does.” Emma confirmed. “I’ve never been to
“Faith’s from
“Never been there, either.”
Buffy stopped walking. “Faith’s right. We’ve been out here for almost an hour
and we haven’t seen anything.”
“Maybe there’s too many of us,” Faith said. “Maybe the vampires here know
there’s safety in numbers. We should split up or something.”
“We have three slayers. It’s only logical to have one slayer per group,” Giles
said. “Buffy, you go with
“No
offense, Giles, but Emma is a pretty new slayer. Are you sure she shouldn’t go
with me or B?” Faith asked. “We haven’t seen her fight. You said yourself she
hasn’t really been trained. I’m just saying…”
“Giles is right, Faith,” Buffy said. “She hasn’t had actual training, but she’s
been doing this for over a year. I think going with a watcher is a good idea.”
“Didn’t think of it that way,” Faith said, shrugging. “Sounds like a plan to
me.”
“Okay,
starting to feel like I’m not here,” Emma said.
“You’ll get used to it,” Xander said.
“Looks like you and me, Will,” Buffy said, putting her arm around her best
friend and they headed off.
“Emma,” Giles asked, “which way?”
Emma indicated to her left. “That’ll work. I know there are some vamps down
there. At least there usually are.”
Faith watched as Buffy,
“Come on, Sinbad,’ Faith said. “We’ll go this way. Nice and dark and a few
alleys that I can see.”
“Wonderful,”
Xander said. “And Faith? About the Sinbad…”
XXXXX