(Untitled)

[broody_manpire]

No. It's not that easy, Angel. You have to kill me, I'll kill them all if you don't. I'll kill everybody. William doesn't have plans, but I do. I don't like this place anymore, I want it to be different. I'll make it different.Her words resonated through my mind as I picked myself up from the ground, my hand moving to my jaw where Buffy totally

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[prodigal_slayer]

It was a pretty uneventful ride to Blockbuster, complete with me blarin' bad techno in Fred's car. I was so glad she had a fuckin' car, not that I minded walkin' everywhere but I knew it'd be a cold day in hell when Wes might actually get me a car. Never gonna happen, I was gonna be a lifetime passenger which was fine mostly cause it's kinda hard to slay vampires in a car, then again I could always run 'em over?

We were playin' 'Never Have I Ever' and I'd just called Fred out for havin' a crush on one of our teachers, the two of us laughin' on our way out of the store with movies clenched tightly in my hand. We didn't make it very far though when Angel suddenly popped out of nowhere. I exchanged a glance with Fred and we both started crackin' the fuck up, I didn't know why it was so funny, it just was. I guess Angel didn't find it as funny.

I rolled my eyes dramatically as Angel took me by the arm and lead me away from Fred to tell me whatever it was he had to tell me. Hey! Didn't you lock me in a cage a few hours ago? Well, okay that was cause I was throwin' myself at Xander which was again? Not my fault! Maybe next time he could be a little gentler when he locked me in a cage, or something.

That was when he said the B word. The B word was lethal in that it didn't matter how stoned I was, it always caught my attention right away. Shit. Couldn't I just have one night off? One night? One night to hang with my best friend and not have to worry about this whole vampires saving the world schtick? Christ. I just wanted to go back to Fred's and chill out with her bong and some bad action movies. And also pizza. Lots of pizza. And popcorn.

"What about Buffy?" Yeah, she was evil and annoying and currently my biggest problem but also not something I needed to worry about right now. Was she? "What happened?"

[broody_manpire]

I could see the look in Faith's face, feel how badly she just wanted to have a regular night without all the drama of Buffy and everything Sunnydale. I understood that, she was after all a teenage girl with teenage girl needs. She tipped her head up and looked at me with a look of dread when I said the name Buffy, yeah felt the same. I let out a small sigh and looked over my shoulder to make sure Fred was alright. She was standing there gnawing on a piece of licorice and smiling at us both.

"I am really sorry to bug you but I would like to get the two of you somewhere safe. I don't care if that means your place or hers, but out here on the streets? Not an option." I said quietly looking back down at her, letting go of her arm. "I ran into her tonight, or rather it seems she ran into me." I pointed out the bruise on my face and again checked on Fred. I could feel the anger welling up inside Faith and it made something inside me ache for her. Buffy wasn't an easy subject.

"She was totally off the charts with being insane, talking about killing the three of them. That I needed to kill her or she would kill the three, and I haven't grasped what the three are just yet but I do know... you are one of them." I said that part almost so quietly I wasn't sure I'd said it outloud. We had been skirting the whole 'we need to kill Buffy' subject for a long while now. She'd been so far out of the picture that we should have been alarmed by it, instead we weren't.

"I just would feel a whole lot better if you were inside right now." I leaned in and tipped her chin up. Her eyes were so hurt and so upset I wished I'd been able to just kill Buffy by myself earlier. "I'm um- sorry about earlier too, punching you and knocking you out. Magic, gotta hate it... what are you thinking Faith? This Buffy thing isn't going to just go away and tonight proves that to me."

"Please let me get you and Fred home, you guys can continue with your uh extracirricular activities when you are safely behind a locked door. I'll stand outside and make sure nothing happens."

[prodigal_slayer]

God, I fucking HATED it when he pulled that shit with me. Yes, I get it. Buffy's bad news and she wants to kill me. Yes, I also get that Sunnydale's a badass place to hang your hat everynight. Got it, check. The thing he never seemed to get was that I was the goddamn vampire slayer and I could take care of myself. And yes, I could take care of Fred too. Last time I checked I was sent to this town to take care of it. All of it!

Of course, tonight the only thing I had taken care of was Fred's bong. I sighed as I looked at him for a second, he really had mastered the art of the buzzkill. So much for me havin' a good time tonight, it looked like I was damage bound. She had already been damage bound, I could see that clearly by the giant swollen purple bruise on Angel's face. Ouch. That looked like it had hurt. She must have really gotten the drop on him to have him all wound up like this. Poor guy.

And hey! Wasn't I pissy with him a minute ago? How had I gotten unpissy so fast? Damn it.

"Well, we were on our way home to watch movies when you barged in." I pointed out with a raised eyebrow as Angel's gaze finally went from my face to the movies I was holding up in my left hand. Yeah, that's right. We were about to get in the car and go to Fred's house and stay there for the rest of the night. But now that you brought up the B word.....

"Three huh?" I bit down on my bottom lip tryin' to imagine who the other two were, assuming that Angel was right and I was one of them. Great. Couldn't she just want to bite me? Then I could ignore her for the night but now I had to worry about two other people too.

Shooting Angel another disappointed look I walked slowly over to Fred who was still munching on licorice and lookin' all curious as to what we were talkin' about. He didn't have to cut her out of this, although I could see why he felt the need to. One of these days the truth was gonna come out about B, I was just biding my time until it does.

"Hey Fred, there's been some....trouble. I'm really sorry but can we raincheck tonight?" I asked her tentatively watching her face darken. Great. Now she was gonna be mad at me or disappointed or whatever it was that Fred did.

[freddles]

Okay, so let's recap here. Forgetting that Xander was the love of my crazy life? Check. Spending time with my favorite bong? Check. Ordering pizza and hanging with Faith? Check. Bad action movies with really sweaty men and guns? Check. Really tall vampire who likes to take away my best friend with all of his broody doom and gloom and not to mention really good looks? Check with a side of Faith looking at me like she's going to bail. Again.

My licorice wasn't so tasty anymore and that buzz that I was enjoying just a second ago? That was dying quickly especially with the way Faith was talking and telling me we needed a raincheck. Wasn't this supposed to be a normal, no vampire, girl's night out?

"Trouble as in really important kind of trouble and there's no other choice but to take care of it now?" I glanced over at Angel who had the same oh so blank look on his face then back at Faith who just was looking at me like she was sorry.

Ugh, I hated this. I knew there was a lot of stuff I didn't understand, but maybe that was because I kept getting the 'can we raincheck' lines? Yeah, it was dangerous, but wasn't walking home on a dark street dangerous? I think I remember something about a vampire coming close to killing me a few nights ago. Not that I ever told Faith about that I guess.

Sighing, I shrugged a little and crossed my arms over my chest. "Fine, yeah we can do this some other time I guess," I told her, but wasn't what I'd call happy about it. What was I gonna do? Say, no you can't go out and save the world from unspeakable demons and evil because I wanted to go home and puff on the bong some more?

I held out a hand for the movies she was still holding. She really needed to stop looking at me like that. "Look, it's fine. I guess this will just have to wait or something."

[prodigal_slayer]

Was it my imagination or was Fred sayin' the word 'fine' alot? What did that mean exactly? I think when a girl says things are fine over and over again that meant it wasn't fine at all. Yeah, I can't figure it out either but it's not like I never pulled that crap too so I wasn't entirely innocent. Slowly I handed her the movies back because what could I really say? It wasn't like I could start apologizing for who I was and what I gotta do, ya know? Welcome to my life, Fred.

Alright. Maybe I was gettin' a little defensive but the high from earlier was still floatin' around inside my skin so I was all mellow for the moment, at least until someone said the B word again. Then I got all kinds of jumpy, which was I guess why I was runnin' off on her. I had to take care of Buffy because if I didn't? No one would and the rest was all on me.

"Okay." I said with a shrug as I took a step back from her towards Angel. "Guess I'll see you later. Thanks for dinner." And for stickin' around to help me clean up the mess, even though technically? It was her mess since she was the witchy one who cast the spell to make us all insanely crazy over Xander.

I watched her carefully as she got back into her car and finally pulled out of the parking lot before I turned back to look up at Angel.

"Stop givin' me that look." I said smartly cause I knew that he knew exactly what I'd been up to tonight. Cheater. Not to mention the whole Xander thing which was again? So not my fault!

[broody_manpire]

I didn't totally get why she was sending Fred off, didn't I offer to get them safely back to her place so they could hang out? I just watched slightly confused as she told Fred she'd have to take a rain check, saw the emotion in Fred's face as well as her tone as she snagged the movies from Faith's grip. Oh man, why did I have to run into Buffy tonight of all nights? I was going to get grief over this one and I wasn't the one who was out stoned and wandering around Sunnydale! Not that I was going to point that out or anything. Fred finally got in her car and disappeared as Faith turned to me telling me to stop giving her that look. Look? What look?

"You know, I'm not going to even pretend that I understand what just happened or what's going on right now." I ran my hand over the back of my neck and glanced around, waiting for Buffy to come springing out yelling 'surprise!' or some other catch phrase. "I didn't mean to interrupt your girl time, I offered to see you both safely back to her house. I just- Buffy is losing it more and more, she scared me enough and it takes a lot to do that."

Her gaze left me and stared at her hands like she didn't want to hear what I was saying, hell I didn't want to hear what I was saying. Buffy was a major threat and the fact I hadn't made a bigger effort to take her out pissed me off. I guess I'd just held out for so long for Faith, I knew the connection between the two of them.

"Look Faith I know you care about Buffy, what with what went on between the two of you it's only understandable. I just can't risk her killing you. She's nearly done it once and this time... this time I don't think she's going to stop until she does it." I said quietly as she glanced up at me with an odd look. Oh crap, did I say what I think I just said? The big thing about not letting on that I knew about the two of them? Great.

"I just want you safe." I let out a sigh and waited for whatever was coming at me. "Can we get you some place safe, please?"

[prodigal_slayer]

I was torn between bein' seriously worried about B and bein' kind've annoyed at Angel. I hated when he tried to play bodyguard. We weren't exactly partners here, I appreciated him havin' my back and all but I was the slayer. I knew that we promised eachother we wouldn't keep doin' this same old song and dance over and over again but here we were. Doing it again.

Was that really what he came out here for? To escort me and Fred home? We had a car. Uh oh, someone was bein' a bad little stalker tonight or else he would've known that me and Fred weren't just out wandering around. We'd come to the video store and now we were supposed to go home, in the car except here I was, blowin' Fred off for nothing. Cause that look on his face was the one he got everytime before we had this fight.

And then he dropped the fucking bomb on me.

I just stopped for a minute and blinked tryin' to decide if it was my drug addled brain or if that had really just happened. Shit. He knew about that? I didn't think anyone knew about that. Who else knew? Did Wes know? Oh God....no. No way. If Wes had known he would've told me, I think, right? Maybe?

"You knew about that?" I asked him, still a little dumbstruck. Was this just his evil trick? Get the stoned girl off her game by layin' that one on and then gettin' his own way? Fuck if I knew! How come he never told me he knew about that?

"Fine." I said a little too quickly, inwardly wincing at the thought of Fred sayin' fine over and over again. "It doesn't change anything. I know what she is and what I have to do."

[broody_manpire]

I watched her as she stood quietly processing what I just said and honestly? I was expecting her to kick my ass down the street and back so when she said fine? I was not sure if I should take it as that or be scared, guess I was just going to roll with it and thank my lucky stars. Her last sentence was what was going to break me of that plan, damn it.

"I know it doesn't change what needs to be done but it establishes a clear weakness. Buffy will use that against you and there will be nothing you can do to resist it." I was just batting a thousand tonight with calling her out on something so big, but it was the truth I was talking. Buffy would use that against her and I know she would, charm her into thinking that everything's okay and that Faith can make her better. Only thing that was going to make her better was a stake to the heart.

"Come on, I'm sure Wesley is worried about you despite the adventure earlier." I gestured with my head that we should head out, she just stood there. "About earlier I really had no other choice in the matter, you were throttling poor Xander. I was the only one in the room who could manage you and you were out of control. I really didn't want to lock you in that cage but I also didn't want Xander losing limbs from the entire female population of Sunnydale. How's your eye?"

[prodigal_slayer]

Okay. What?! Was he saying what I thought he was saying? What was this all about anyway? The fact that B wanted to kill me or that I slept with her? And then it was Wes was worried and he was sorry about me gettin' thrown in a cage cause I was tryin' to hit it with Xander?

"You don't trust me." It was meant to be a question but came out more like a statement. I narrowed my eyes at him as he stared at me with a blank expression. "You don't." I shook my head as I took a step back from him. "Is it cause you don't think I can take her or is it just that I fucked her?"

Really there was no right answer to that question because either one pissed me off. He just didn't get me and Buffy, he never had but just cause I'd made the mistake of trusting her once didn't mean I was gonna do it again.

Now I really wished I hadn't checked out on Fred, cause sittin' at home with her watchin' movies and smokin' up? Gotta be way better than this.

"Never mind, I don't wanna know. Just take me back to Fred's."

[broody_manpire]

Man I really know how to charm them don't I? I swear we spent more time bickering than anything else, maybe that's a sign or something. Vampires and Slayers really just don't mix, and who was I kidding? I was over a hundred years old and she was just a kid when it came down to it. I'd pissed her off and now she was saying things that I didn't even imply, did I?

"Trust you? Faith you're the only person I do trust." I said as she told me to just take her back to Fred's place. I let out a sigh and just gave in to what she wanted, started walking back up the direction I had come. She followed behind me quietly, only sound were her boots dragging on the ground as we walked. I slowed down a bit so I was beside her, her eyes never left focus in front of her.

"Faith it wasn't my intention to piss you off, I honestly just wanted you safe. I have known about you and Buffy for a long, long time and never once did I bring it up to throw it in your face. Nor will I. I was stating an obvious tactic and not questioning my trust of you or anything else." I was a little ticked off by how sassy she'd been back there with her choice of words and if we were going to fight, may as well get the truth in there somewhere.

"There's nothing that will make me trust you any less, nothing. I haven't gone out and killed her because I know that this is something you have to do. I trust you with that. I don't understand why me wanting you to be safe has turned into this." I just kept talking since she wasn't barking back or swinging yet. "I was sent here to keep you safe, Faith... I won't ignore that and you shouldn't either. You need my help wether you like it or not, can we just... stop always fighting about the same shit?"

[prodigal_slayer]

I was keepin' my eyes on the pavement in front of me as he kept talkin' to me and eventually I stopped walking and just spun around to look up at him. We really were just havin' the same fight over and over again, I was gettin' kind of tired of it. Except for the new thing, the new thing being me and Buffy.....and y'know, stuff.

With a sigh I finally looked up at him and now I couldn't remember who's fault this was. Mine or his, probably a combination of the both.

"Sorry, it's just...B gets me wound up. I guess now you know why." Not that he really had a clue, but at least he had more of one than I had thought he did. I wasn't really sure if I was relieved cause it was finally out or if I was pissed.

"I know she's a threat and I really am gonna do something about it, something permanant. Y'know things are tense enough without you freakin' out and escorting me home? Angel, we were gonna go home in the car and then you showed up and I freaked out and then the whole Buffy thing came up and...."

I'm really stoned. Yeah, best not to say that outloud even if it was common knowledge.

"You just have to stop worrying about me all the time. I know B shook you up tonight but I can take care of myself, you know? Lifetime of practice. Don't you have....hobbies?"

[broody_manpire]

Sometimes when she talked I wondered what the hell I was really doing here, obviously she can take care of herself. She tells me that every other day of her life and yet here I am again trying to keep her safe. Keep her alive. I was sent here to do that and right now, with her little hobbie comment, I was about to just walk away. This just got more and more complicated and I had a feeling that the need for me to be here was Darla. She's gone now, maybe it was time for me to find a hobby.

"You're right." I said after a long pause after her last sentence, offering up a shrug. "You're a big girl and you obviously don't need me worrying about your well being. So from now on let's do this, you let me know when you need my help."

Yeah I more than likely wasn't going to do anything I just said but it's what she wanted to hear. Drugged up or not there was no way I was going to let her walk home alone. If Buffy knocked me to hell tonight I can only imagine what she would do to her intended target. I wasn't going to let that happen, ever.

"How about I walk you to your house so you aren't walking alone. I'd feel much better, in your state, if you just let me walk you home and then I'll be on my way." I started to walk slowly up the sidewalk hoping she'd follow after me or I was going to have to knock her out again and get her home. As soon as she was safely inside, I was going to go look for Buffy.

[prodigal_slayer]

I'm....what? I mean, obviously I'm right. Wait, did he really just say that? Wow. This conversation was goin' a whole lot better than I thought it would. Besides the whole revelation about B I never really expected to be havin' this conversation with Angel go so well. Why did I have the feeling it was only going well from my point of view though?

Oh well, beggars can't be choosers right?

I nodded at him, feeling suddenly agreeable when he offered to walk me home or rather to Fred's house. Since he busted my ride home I figured him walkin' me was the least he could do anyway. And not cause I was scared of B, hell no but because I liked his company. I kind of looked forward to the moment when we didn't have some impending doom lurkin' right around the corner. Even though, those moments were few and far between and didn't exactly include right now considering Buffy's plans to make a meal out of me.

"You know that goes both ways, right?" I asked him after we had started walkin' again. "When you need help you can come to me." I would always help him but Angel was stubborn like I was, actually scratch that cause he was like ten times more stubborn than I was.

He looked cranky, which was kind of a far cry to how I was feeling. Not just cause I was stoned either but because I kind of felt like I might have won this argument. Whatever. I totally won this argument.

"I thought you tracked me down cause you wanted me to go find B with you."

[broody_manpire]

I know she's the Slayer and I know her offer of things going both ways when it came to help was her way of trying to make me less moody. I am not moody, she's just more than I can handle sometimes with her damned stubborness. I just nodded my head as we continued walking along the streets toward her house which I'm sure she was just dying to get home to. Wes's knickers were probably still tied up in knots over that whole Xander thing. I stopped when she said that she thought I tracked her down to find Buffy.

"I did." I said plainly looking at her. "Until I found you and realized you are stoned, no way in hell I'm taking you out looking for her like this. You'd be an easy target and I am here to do my job which is making sure you don't die. Taking you into a fight with her right now would pretty much ensure that."

I'm sure she didn't want to hear that but at this point I really just didn't care much. Her stubborness over me helping her and ruining her evening was just about enough for me. I wanted to go out and find Buffy and kill her and I intended to do just that. We weren't far from her place and I wanted to make sure that Buffy wasn't lurking around, of course I'd have to do that without being noticed. She could take care of herself you know.

My eyes scanned the area as I walked just slightly ahead of her, turning to make sure she was still behind me which she was. I couldn't help that I wanted her to be safe, was that so wrong of me? I love, usually when someone loves another they want them to be safe and well, alive. Wait, did I love her? I turned and looked at her again, her eyes wide and looking around a little anxiously for the same thing I was. Buffy. Yeah, okay so I loved her.

"I'm sorry I messed up your night." I said quietly as she stopped beside me and we stared at her house. Lights were on which meant Wes was home. My eyes silently scanned the area around her place, especially that tree I jerked Buffy out of just a little while ago. "This is your stop."

[prodigal_slayer]

Oh yeah. The whole stoned thing. Maybe that was the reason he was givin' me a look like a disapproving parent. Although it still makes sense why he wouldn't wanna take me out to look for Buffy. The more I thought about it, the more he was right. I shouldn't go and try to smack down with a slayer turned vampire like this, even if I wasn't half as retarded as I'd been when me and Fred first smoked up. And I could still handle myself.

We'd walked past Fred's house and all of the lights were off, her car wasn't in the driveway. I guess she found something else to do tonight and why not? I'd already ditched her and it wasn't the first time either. Vaguelly I wondered if she was gonna be mad at me or if she'd just get over it. Either way Angel kept walkin' around til we stopped in front of my house. The lights were definitely on here and Wesley's car was in the driveway. It's Friday night and I'm gonna go home and chill with my watcher.

After today? I really didn't wanna go inside and hang out with Wes tonight. Besides, he thought I was out at Fred's all night tonight.

"It's okay." I said with a shrug. "I just hope Fred's not pissed but then again, that's my life. Everybody's always pissed at me." I smirked wryly as I glanced back at the front door of the house I shared with Wes.

"Hey, I don't wanna go in there." I said suddenly, lookin' up at him and wondering if he was still too pissed to take me home with him. After all, wasn't he the one who wanted to 'keep me safe' and watch me like a hawk 24/7? Wouldn't it be better if I was with him then? "Wes thinks I'm gonna be at Fred's house all night." I added in suggestively.