Aug. 30th - Mind Healing
Title: Mind Healing
Author: 3am_moonlight
Crossover: BtVS / Jessica Jones (TV)
Rating: Gen / Teen
Word Count: 1,283
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & JJ: Post-AKA Everything.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and Jessica Jones/MCU belongs to the Stan Lee Estate and Marvel.
Summary: Faith picks Jess up from Slayer HQ.
Author's Note: Written for Day 30 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.A/N 2: Follows 2018's 'Strength in Numbers' and this year's ' Unusual You', ' Stake Through the Heart', ' Learning Curve', and ' Reality Check'.
Jessica Jones lasted exactly six months, one week, and two days at Slayer HQ before she called Faith and demanded she come and release her from the teenagers and the instructors from hell. Or else. Faith only barely managed to hold back her laughter at the presumption that Jess could cause any real harm to anyone there. Super strong teenagers with an instinctive ability to fight meant that someone with Jessica's abilities and lack of proper fighting techniques had little or no chance. Even if her training had improved over the months.
Still, the former private investigator had managed to last a lot longer than anyone had expected of her. Faith had bet seven weeks, tops. B had been optimistic and had said three months. No one at HQ had even considered she would last more than four, if for no other reason than that there was a 'no alcohol on campus' rule. A seasoned alcoholic, the woman had managed to find creative ways around it and persevered through whatever they threw at her. From the phone calls and text messages Faith had gotten, there had been a lot of profanities and temper tantrums throughout her stay.
It wasn't just martial arts and other ways of fighting on the menu, she also had to learn melee weaponry, situational awareness, and many other things. There were studies of Slayers, vampires, demons, witches, apocalypses and how they were dealt with, and so on. There was also a short study of the various Avengers and people like Jessica who had abilities. The latter was more information so they knew to avoid them so they didn't get dragged into any of their messes. They had their own mess and didn't need anyone else's, thank you very much!
Seeing a shrink was obligatory as well. It was the part Faith had both hated the most and been the most grateful for when the Sineya Council had been reestablished. As soon as she accepted that her psychologist really was there to help her and not use whatever she said against her, it had been therapeutic and it had helped Faith let go of the past. Which wasn't to say it hadn't hurt like hell to drag all those bad memories back up again, but re-examining them as an adult gave her a very different understanding of much of it.
All of the Scoobies, all of the Potentials-Turned-Slayers, and everyone who worked for them had to see a shrink as well. It wasn't up for debate. Their lives were brutal, people died all the time, and they needed to talk it out with someone. Consequently, they had quite a few psychologists on their payroll.
If you didn't stay at HQ or a Slayer House on a permanent or semi-permanent basis, then you had to either do it over the phone, Skype, or some other way, but you had to have regular sessions to deal with all the crap. On the bright side, if you were somewhere with other Slayers there was usually a chance for some violence therapy afterward.
From what Faith had been told, Jessica had taken advantage of the latter after almost all of her sessions. She could relate. Emotional pain fucking hurt and the best way to deal was to hit someone who understood you just needed to get it out and that it wasn't personal.
Violence Therapy, and yes, that was a real thing with them, was encouraged to avoid someone getting hurt, both their people and innocent bystanders. Even B needed it on occasion, as she was repressed as fuck most of the time. Of course, they were taught to use that pain in a practical manner.
B had told her that Jess was drinking less and trying to deal with at least some of her issues, but she wasn't 12 Stepping it. It was progress, and that was of the good. Putting Jess on the road with her might not be a great idea, but the woman hadn't really connected with anyone at HQ. Her prickly personality remained, even with less help from any liquids with an age limit.
***
It took five days to circle back to Cleveland and HQ, and the Queen Slayer was waiting for her in the parking lot. Alone. Not a good sign, not when she hadn't been called back by her or someone else high up. Fuck.
She parked and exited the car, only to be waved back inside by B. Okay, super-secret stuff then.
"You need to convince Jessica to stay longer, or at least to come back in a few months to continue the in-depth sessions. She's doing well, all things considered, but she would benefit a lot from staying longer."
"Making me stay longer for the shrinks didn't help. Like me, she's been alone for a long time." She looked the other Slayer in the eye, "Making her go through everything in one long, drawn-out session will blow up in your face."
Faith switched topics, "How's the practice going?"
"Much better, but not great." B allowed the change, that meant she'd hear more about it later. "Jessica is much older than the girls who usually come here, and she has two decades worth of bad habits to unlearn."
They stayed in the car for a little while longer, but they both knew the conversation was over.
Jessica was happy to see her and wanted to leave right away, but the rules said she needed to stay for at least three days. Mandatory shink sessions, mandatory meetings with B and whoever else of the higher-ups who were currently there, and of course, the more interesting part: sparring with the other Slayers.
Nothing worthy of extra psych sessions had happened lately, she hadn't had any emotional relapses, and there was nothing Slay-related that concerned her, so on the morning of her fourth day there, they peeled out of there. Jessica hadn't been thrilled when Faith had left her at HQ after only eight days, but she and B were very careful to never spend more than 10 days there together. Or anywhere else.
Despite all the work they had done, there was something that made them incapable of staying together for long periods of time. After some careful experimenting, they had come to the conclusion that it was related to the Slayer Essense, but that was all they really knew. They got along reasonably well if they kept their distance.
***
Things after that went better, and after testing her new partner against several groups of vampire minions and her not getting hurt, she took it as a good sign. There were still sparring sessions between them, and shrink sessions over the phone, and they would occasionally clash, personality-wise. Two people in a car for months at a time would do that, but it worked. Dancing, killing the undead, and fucking whoever looked like they might know what they were doing. It worked.
Apocalypse season was coming up in a few months, so the question was: should Jessica participate or be left out? Should they return to HQ for more training or pass and see if there was something else to kill? Wait and see what this year's apocalypse was, and then decide? Should Faith leave Jess somewhere while she helped stop the world from ending?
Faith didn't ask or even tell Jessica, but she did discuss it with B and Xan over a lot of text messages. Wait and see, seemed to be the general consensus. It would suck if she was thrown in to soon and got herself killed.
But, that was for later, now there were vamps to dance with and the night was still young.
Author: 3am_moonlight
Crossover: BtVS / Jessica Jones (TV)
Rating: Gen / Teen
Word Count: 1,283
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & JJ: Post-AKA Everything.
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and Jessica Jones/MCU belongs to the Stan Lee Estate and Marvel.
Summary: Faith picks Jess up from Slayer HQ.
Author's Note: Written for Day 30 of the 2019 August Fic-A-Day.A/N 2: Follows 2018's 'Strength in Numbers' and this year's ' Unusual You', ' Stake Through the Heart', ' Learning Curve', and ' Reality Check'.
Jessica Jones lasted exactly six months, one week, and two days at Slayer HQ before she called Faith and demanded she come and release her from the teenagers and the instructors from hell. Or else. Faith only barely managed to hold back her laughter at the presumption that Jess could cause any real harm to anyone there. Super strong teenagers with an instinctive ability to fight meant that someone with Jessica's abilities and lack of proper fighting techniques had little or no chance. Even if her training had improved over the months.
Still, the former private investigator had managed to last a lot longer than anyone had expected of her. Faith had bet seven weeks, tops. B had been optimistic and had said three months. No one at HQ had even considered she would last more than four, if for no other reason than that there was a 'no alcohol on campus' rule. A seasoned alcoholic, the woman had managed to find creative ways around it and persevered through whatever they threw at her. From the phone calls and text messages Faith had gotten, there had been a lot of profanities and temper tantrums throughout her stay.
It wasn't just martial arts and other ways of fighting on the menu, she also had to learn melee weaponry, situational awareness, and many other things. There were studies of Slayers, vampires, demons, witches, apocalypses and how they were dealt with, and so on. There was also a short study of the various Avengers and people like Jessica who had abilities. The latter was more information so they knew to avoid them so they didn't get dragged into any of their messes. They had their own mess and didn't need anyone else's, thank you very much!
Seeing a shrink was obligatory as well. It was the part Faith had both hated the most and been the most grateful for when the Sineya Council had been reestablished. As soon as she accepted that her psychologist really was there to help her and not use whatever she said against her, it had been therapeutic and it had helped Faith let go of the past. Which wasn't to say it hadn't hurt like hell to drag all those bad memories back up again, but re-examining them as an adult gave her a very different understanding of much of it.
All of the Scoobies, all of the Potentials-Turned-Slayers, and everyone who worked for them had to see a shrink as well. It wasn't up for debate. Their lives were brutal, people died all the time, and they needed to talk it out with someone. Consequently, they had quite a few psychologists on their payroll.
If you didn't stay at HQ or a Slayer House on a permanent or semi-permanent basis, then you had to either do it over the phone, Skype, or some other way, but you had to have regular sessions to deal with all the crap. On the bright side, if you were somewhere with other Slayers there was usually a chance for some violence therapy afterward.
From what Faith had been told, Jessica had taken advantage of the latter after almost all of her sessions. She could relate. Emotional pain fucking hurt and the best way to deal was to hit someone who understood you just needed to get it out and that it wasn't personal.
Violence Therapy, and yes, that was a real thing with them, was encouraged to avoid someone getting hurt, both their people and innocent bystanders. Even B needed it on occasion, as she was repressed as fuck most of the time. Of course, they were taught to use that pain in a practical manner.
B had told her that Jess was drinking less and trying to deal with at least some of her issues, but she wasn't 12 Stepping it. It was progress, and that was of the good. Putting Jess on the road with her might not be a great idea, but the woman hadn't really connected with anyone at HQ. Her prickly personality remained, even with less help from any liquids with an age limit.
***
It took five days to circle back to Cleveland and HQ, and the Queen Slayer was waiting for her in the parking lot. Alone. Not a good sign, not when she hadn't been called back by her or someone else high up. Fuck.
She parked and exited the car, only to be waved back inside by B. Okay, super-secret stuff then.
"You need to convince Jessica to stay longer, or at least to come back in a few months to continue the in-depth sessions. She's doing well, all things considered, but she would benefit a lot from staying longer."
"Making me stay longer for the shrinks didn't help. Like me, she's been alone for a long time." She looked the other Slayer in the eye, "Making her go through everything in one long, drawn-out session will blow up in your face."
Faith switched topics, "How's the practice going?"
"Much better, but not great." B allowed the change, that meant she'd hear more about it later. "Jessica is much older than the girls who usually come here, and she has two decades worth of bad habits to unlearn."
They stayed in the car for a little while longer, but they both knew the conversation was over.
Jessica was happy to see her and wanted to leave right away, but the rules said she needed to stay for at least three days. Mandatory shink sessions, mandatory meetings with B and whoever else of the higher-ups who were currently there, and of course, the more interesting part: sparring with the other Slayers.
Nothing worthy of extra psych sessions had happened lately, she hadn't had any emotional relapses, and there was nothing Slay-related that concerned her, so on the morning of her fourth day there, they peeled out of there. Jessica hadn't been thrilled when Faith had left her at HQ after only eight days, but she and B were very careful to never spend more than 10 days there together. Or anywhere else.
Despite all the work they had done, there was something that made them incapable of staying together for long periods of time. After some careful experimenting, they had come to the conclusion that it was related to the Slayer Essense, but that was all they really knew. They got along reasonably well if they kept their distance.
***
Things after that went better, and after testing her new partner against several groups of vampire minions and her not getting hurt, she took it as a good sign. There were still sparring sessions between them, and shrink sessions over the phone, and they would occasionally clash, personality-wise. Two people in a car for months at a time would do that, but it worked. Dancing, killing the undead, and fucking whoever looked like they might know what they were doing. It worked.
Apocalypse season was coming up in a few months, so the question was: should Jessica participate or be left out? Should they return to HQ for more training or pass and see if there was something else to kill? Wait and see what this year's apocalypse was, and then decide? Should Faith leave Jess somewhere while she helped stop the world from ending?
Faith didn't ask or even tell Jessica, but she did discuss it with B and Xan over a lot of text messages. Wait and see, seemed to be the general consensus. It would suck if she was thrown in to soon and got herself killed.
But, that was for later, now there were vamps to dance with and the night was still young.