For my giftee aliceinwondrbra!
This is for my giftee aliceinwondrbra! She expressed an interest in Faith/Buffy, Doyle/Cordelia and Puppet Angel so my gift includes:
60 icons
2 Friends only banners
1 Faith-Buffy mood theme with 133 moods
Fic (3119 words)
1 fic banner
Buffy/Faith Recs
I left some icons as bases so she could play with them and dolled some up with my own ideas. It's my first time so I hope they're up to par. And I hope she enjoys my fic and gets some use of of the graphics!
ICONS
FRIENDS ONLY BANNERS
MOODTHEME
by nowgold
download the beautiful moods here!
BUFFY/FAITH RECS
What We Got (Is Everything) by deird1
Dreaming by deird1
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by angearia
It blew her to Anytown, USA and that's my middle name by pene
Better Luck With Girls by shrift
FIC
banner by nowgold
Who's confronting whom anyway?
By cafedemonde
Spike/Faith, Spike/Buffy and Buffy/Faith, Buffy/Angel implied
Rating 'R"
Florida in August was an unpredictable thing. Earlier that day, the winds had been tropical-storm strong, keeping many tourists confined within the supposed safety of their luxury resorts and hotels. The Hurricane Watch, they called it on the news, pumping up the locals with fear while encouraging them to buy water and canned goods, and fill every gas can one had…to be American. Consequently, the day had been frantic, but with the sunset came a welcomed calm and the towering palm trees lining the downtown streets swayed in the breeze, the scent of the warm, salted sea filling the air. Miami was still beautiful at night, despite the infestation of the undead that had taken hold since that war in Los Angeles.
Spike stood in the window, staring out into the night, the lights of the city below twinkling like colored jewels on black suede. Other vampires milled around in the room behind him, not one of them daring to get too close, waiting. The new leader of the city, Gillian Beck, was due to arrive any minute to meet with the blond, who was not-so-blond anymore, and discuss a truce with the recently usurped Arturo Mendoza. Gillian was fashionably late and would make a show of apologizing profusely, but it was still a slap to Spike’s face.
Spike didn’t mind much though since he didn’t expect to get anywhere close to resolving the matter amiably. He, most certainly, had other intentions.
Becoming antsy, Faith watched the scene through the lens of her scope. The building opposite of her was mostly glass on the side she faced, making the job much easier - She would be able to get a bead on her targets without walls getting in her way. Sighing, she set the rifle down and lit a cigarette, relatively secure in the feeling that she had a few moments to waste before it was showtime.
She leaned back against the wall next to her window, casting a wary glance at the hogtied man lying unconscious on the bed. Hopefully, she didn’t hurt him too badly, but she needed this room and the poor fool had been unlucky enough to have arrived at the hotel and rented the place right after her reservation had expired.
She had been fashionably late too.
With a slight grin, she crushed her cigarette out in the carpet, pocketing the butt, and then turned back to her task, pleased to see almost all the vampires bowing - just enough to say that they did - to the handsome new arrival.
Lifting her weapon, she waited.
~~~*~~~
Lately, Buffy was into self-reflection.
That hadn’t always been the case though. For months, after barely escaping Sunnydale, she had been nothing but a relentless hunter. All about her prey, she and the new slayers sought out and destroyed demons bent on making this earth a hell. While the slayers were otherwise occupied, vampires, sly as they are, had taken the opportunity to infiltrate human society’s financial and political arenas, strategically turning CEOs and government officials in key positions. Humans were still blind to their existence, but now the cover up of vampire killings was a lot easier to manage. When the chief of police was a blood sucking fiend, a lot of evidence got buried.
Faced with the decision of what to focus on, mildly ambitious vampires or world-dominating demons, she used her resources wisely, vowing to deal with the undead later. So she had been busy, too busy to worry about her personal relationships.
Until she caught wind of Faith and Spike. Then she had to pay attention.
That they would get together wasn’t exactly a foreign notion in her mind. She had walked in on them getting very cozy in her basement one afternoon when they thought she was at work. But she was still shocked because, well, Spike was dead. Like really dead. Like dead a third time after the Wolfram and Hart fiasco in Los Angeles. That was what Giles had told her.
But Giles had a tendency to be a little biased in these matters so how stupid was she going to be? Again?
Spike and Faith.
As unpleasant as it was, she let that picture form in her mind and tried to examine her feelings on the matter. Surprisingly, the vampire was easier so she went there first. Spike was hers in that same way that she considered Dawn hers. She created them, not intentionally either one. Dawn was made from her, flesh of her flesh and blood of her blood. And Spike, this new Spike that strove to be a man, came from his love for her and she claimed him as quickly now as she did Angel. Hers. And most definitely not Faith’s. That it was Faith who he was with now did rankle…hard…but that was Buffy’s issue as well.
Faith was her sister in slayage, the True Slayer where Buffy was the Original Slayer, and they both felt that legendary vibe when around the newbies which was nice, if dangerously flattering. This common bond should’ve brought them closer and sometimes it did, but that never lasted. The drifting apart was only a matter of when, not if. And it wasn’t Faith shutting her out. The younger slayer was always open. She always had been…excluding her time as the evilest-little-chosen-one-ever-chosen…and during her senior year, they had done some girl-bonding that no one had the slightest clue about -- although Xander often hinted at it. No…it was Buffy who inevitably pulled away.
If she was being completely honest - and that was what this whole self-reflection thing was about - she would admit that from the day Faith arrived and snatched Mr. Pointy to stake a vamp, Buffy had been selfish. She hadn’t wanted to share her town, her watcher, her friends, her destiny with this girl who was powerful, witty, beautiful…competition. Kendra, bless her, had been okay and very non-threatening in the friends stealing department, whereas Faith had the gang, even Oz, mesmerized from Day One. And it had angered Buffy that Faith could make them fall in like with her so effortlessly. Frightened, Buffy rebelled against everything involving the brunette, something inside her unwilling to give the smallest piece of her life to a girl who didn’t have much.
At the time, Faith hid her own fear and loneliness well so Buffy hadn’t been very careful of the other girl’s feelings. Looking back, she was pretty sure that it was the desire for someone to want her and be there for her that drove Faith to the Major, not some innate badness. And she was also painfully aware that she and the other Scoobies played a huge part in keeping her away.
“Flight 197 to Miami is now boarding,” the attendant announced over the PA system.
Grabbing her carryon, Buffy readied herself for boarding. “Hope you like surprises…”
~~~*~~~
Spike reclined on the bed, his arm supported by a wad of folded towels while Faith worked with the medical tweezers.
“Bloody fuck…” he groaned. He was going to kill her, bite her hard and deep, for this one. Wooden bullets were great, but not when they hit him.
“Said I was sorry,” she whispered and stopped to wipe sweat from her brow with her forearm.
“Fat lot of good sorry is when I’m dust,” he complained, then took a drag off his cigarette. He thought about flicking the ashes in her hair, then let his head drop back against the pillow, disgusted with the level of evil he was now reduced to.
“Hey, you were supposed to duck. Not my fault you wanted to go all Mike Tyson on their asses. The plan is the plan.” Finally, she reached her target and twisted the tweezers around to get a proper grip. Spike squirmed.
“Yeah, well, I’m shit for sticking to the plan and you know it. Should be prepared to improvise and all when I’m invooo…ow, ow, OW!” he shouted as she pulled the bullet out.
She kept the wound spread open, peering at it intently. “I don’t see any splinters so I think we’re all done.” She nudged him. “Stitches?”
Eyes closed, he shook his head slightly. “Just some aspirin, pet.”
She frowned at that, but rolled off the bed to get the painkillers out of her bag. A few minutes later, she returned and took the cigarette from him, crushing it out in the ashtray before handing over two Motrin and a glass of water. Once he finished, she wrapped his arm in a clean bandage.
They hadn’t thought to bring a supply of blood, so she left him to heal and cleared away the mess of the impromptu surgery, tossing the bloody towels on the bathroom floor. He could hear her as she took a long hot shower; the sound of the water hitting the tile lulled him to sleep.
He dozed for what seemed like only moments, but when Spike woke it was just before noon and Faith was curled up next to him, warm naked flesh pressed to his uninjured side. Her hair was damp and cool against his cheek. Ignoring the blossoming pain in his arm, he rolled over, the motion moving her unto her back and he slid inside her, kissing her gently until she awakened.
“Hungry,” he groused in her ear as he fucked her slowly.
She nodded and he let his features change.
~~~*~~~
“The weatherman says that hurricane changed course overnight and it’s approaching again,” Spike told her while he filled his pack. “Better call the airport to check on our flight. I don’t fancy getting stuck in a huge building with even huger glass walls.”
Faith walked passed and tossed him her cell phone. “Here. Be my guest.”
Rolling his eyes, Spike dialed 4-1-1. A loud knocking stopped him from hitting TALK. He exchanged a glance with Faith and crept up to the door while she pulled out a stake. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, those same eyes popping open seconds later as he turned to gape at Faith and mouthed one word before opening the door.
“Spike.” The tiny blonde stared up at him, a weird mixture of fear and expectation in her eyes. “You’re really alive…again,” she whispered, blinking rapidly, refusing to cry.
“Hello Buffy,” he replied almost sheepishly and moved back to allow her inside.
She stepped in and placed her bag against the wall before she spotted the other slayer. “Hey, Faith.”
Faith gave an awkward wave and a flash of dimples. “Hey, B. What brings you to the Sunshine State?” She tossed the stake on the bed.
“Him…mostly. But I got the council to pay for it by telling Giles I was going to check on that little vampire problem in South Beach.” She was back to staring at him. He allowed it, this embarrassment from having her undivided attention easier to deal with than her wrath, which was sure to follow soon.
“Actually, that’s a done deal,” Faith advised her.
This got Buffy’s attention and she stopped gawking at Spike to finally see the other slayer. She was leaner, that jail fat gone like it had never been, and very tan. Attractive and she could easily see what Spike saw in her. “A done deal? Explain.”
“What’s to explain?” Faith inquired with a grin. “We came, we fought, we killed the bad guys.”
Buffy glanced at them both. “Together.” It wasn’t a question, but they both nodded and she crossed her arms. “Since when?”
Spike saw this shift in her mood for what it was and stepped over to her. ”Look Buffy. Angel’s been watching these guys for months. When Gillian made his move, Arturo started tearing up the city trying to get his territory back. Angel owed Arturo a favor and was asked to negotiate a deal. He sent me. And you know how I deal with things, luv.” And now he was grinning. That grin that meant he was very pleased with himself and for a moment, Buffy forgot why she had come and was just happy to see him. Happy that he still existed and could smile like that.
Something inside her also hurt and she looked away, at Faith now who was stuffing toiletries in a duffle bag. “So job’s all done and you guys are heading back to…”
“The Wild, Wild West, B. Where your ex honey is hold up waiting to send us out on the next mission.”
There was that we word again. Buffy liked that less and less and she turned to Spike, hands on her hips. “So what, you’re just Angel’s foot soldier now. His…his demon hitman? You guys hate each other.”
Spike leaned against the dresser and crossed his arms. If Buffy wanted a fight after seeing him for the first time since Sunnydale collapsed, then he would give her one. “Didn’t see you complaining when I was yours. The way I remember it, I was cannon fodder for your precious Scoobies on a good day and convenient…when you had an itch to scratch.”
Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to wrap her brain around the fact the he was throwing that up in her face. And in front of Faith!
“That’s not fair, Spike. Don’t start this,” she grounded out through clenched teeth, finally finding her voice.
“Don’t start?” he yelled. “You come here, unannounced, with your judgmental hands on your judgmental hips...um…well, judging what we do…”
“Who’s this we, Spike!? Huh? You and Angel ? Or is it you and Faith?” She had marched over to him and was now glaring up in his face, trying to ignore how blue his eyes were and how stormy they got when he was restraining his anger at her. He still cared, she was sure of it.
He pushed off the dresser and was standing toe-to-toe with her, eyes blazing, when Faith shoved her way between them.
“Hold up! No fighting in the high-priced hotel room that has my credit card on file for the deposit.” She dragged Spike away from Buffy’s clenched fists and toward the door. “Why don’t you call the airport and go check us out if the flight is on schedule?”
He still had the cell phone in his hand and stared down at her, then at the other slayer before relenting with a nod. “Be back in a minute. Play nice.”
Faith grinned. “Don’t I always?”
He shook his head. “Not in my experience, no,” he sighed, but left them anyway, hoping he didn’t come back to find a massacre.
Once the door was closed, Faith turned to the seething blonde across the room. “What’s the deal, B?”
Buffy shrugged. “No deal. I just heard a rumor and needed to see what you guys were up to behind my back.”
“Damn B.” Faith pulled a cigarette out from its comrades and shoved the pack in Spike’s backpack. “You act like he was your…boyfriend or something.” She slipped a lighter from her back pocket, a Zippo that Buffy knew all too well, and lit it while watching the blonde.
“He’s not. I know that, but…you…we were tight, Faith. For a while.”
Faith took a long drag. “And you stopped calling…again.”
“I…I had that thing with those Hetvari demons in Brussels!” she pouted, feeling a childish urge to stomp her foot. She couldn’t believe Faith was trying to turn this around on her.
“And before that it was Kopavogur. And before that Milan, which just happen to coincide with Fashion Week...”
“Okay, so I don’t give you the time you want and you go find my…find Spike and do God knows what?”
“It wasn’t like that. Angel needed help and found me. You know how me and the Big Guy work, B. I’m always gonna be there for him.”
“And doing Spike was part of helping Angel?”
“Look,” she crushed her smoke out in an ashtray. “You wanna know what’s up. I get that. But whatever happened to calling a bitch? You could’ve just asked me.”
Buffy walked over to her, eyes narrowed to mean little slits. “And you would’ve told a bitch? Like you told me you were skipping around the country with Spike doing Angel’s dirty work?” She brought her hand up to touch Faith’s cheek, but pushed her hair dark tresses back over her shoulder instead, exposing the nearly-healed holes on her neck. “Like you told me you’re letting him bite you.”
Faith scooted away quickly, pulling her hair back in place. “I shot him.” Buffy only raised her eyebrows at that, waiting. “With wooden bullets…”
“What? Faith, what the hell …” She started for the other slayer.
“Chill with the protective mommy act. It was an accident. Blondie didn’t stick to the plan and got caught in the line of fire. Point is, we didn’t have blood and he needed some.”
“So you just open up a vein? Faith! For a smart girl you can really ride the short bus sometimes.”
Faith shrugged, getting mad, but refusing to show it. “Yeah, but at least I’m riding with all the cool vamps.”
Feeling frustrated, Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was getting them nowhere and she was beginning to think she shouldn’t have come at all. What either of them did wasn’t her business. Not really. Faith was making that very clear. And Spike had already brushed her off in his own way.
“So you two really got rid of that Gillian guy?” A subject change was in order and Buffy was nothing if not great at deflecting. “And since when do you have a credit card?” she asked, smiling slightly.
Grateful that the inquisition was over, Faith played along. “Not in my name. You know I’m still a wanted felon. But Angel’s got connections.”
The room phone rang and Faith was grateful for that reprieve as well. She answered it, knowing it was Spike and they conversed for half a moment before she hung up and faced the blonde. “Airport’s still open,” Faith announced, grabbing their bags hurriedly.
Buffy nodded and grabbed her own before turning to Faith. “You know this is me totally giving you the shovel speech.”
“The shovel speech?” Faith asked and opened the door for them.
“Yep. You hurt him and I get to beat you over the head with one. Standard disclaimer.”
Faith stared at her for a beat, wondering if this was once of those hug moments, and then smiled as she slipped away toward the elevator. Buffy closed the door behind them, watching Faith’s ass, and prepared to give Spike the same speech downstairs.
Self-reflection was a bitch.
****
end
60 icons
2 Friends only banners
1 Faith-Buffy mood theme with 133 moods
Fic (3119 words)
1 fic banner
Buffy/Faith Recs
I left some icons as bases so she could play with them and dolled some up with my own ideas. It's my first time so I hope they're up to par. And I hope she enjoys my fic and gets some use of of the graphics!
ICONS
FRIENDS ONLY BANNERS
MOODTHEME
by nowgold
download the beautiful moods here!
BUFFY/FAITH RECS
What We Got (Is Everything) by deird1
Dreaming by deird1
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by angearia
It blew her to Anytown, USA and that's my middle name by pene
Better Luck With Girls by shrift
FIC
banner by nowgold
Who's confronting whom anyway?
By cafedemonde
Spike/Faith, Spike/Buffy and Buffy/Faith, Buffy/Angel implied
Rating 'R"
Florida in August was an unpredictable thing. Earlier that day, the winds had been tropical-storm strong, keeping many tourists confined within the supposed safety of their luxury resorts and hotels. The Hurricane Watch, they called it on the news, pumping up the locals with fear while encouraging them to buy water and canned goods, and fill every gas can one had…to be American. Consequently, the day had been frantic, but with the sunset came a welcomed calm and the towering palm trees lining the downtown streets swayed in the breeze, the scent of the warm, salted sea filling the air. Miami was still beautiful at night, despite the infestation of the undead that had taken hold since that war in Los Angeles.
Spike stood in the window, staring out into the night, the lights of the city below twinkling like colored jewels on black suede. Other vampires milled around in the room behind him, not one of them daring to get too close, waiting. The new leader of the city, Gillian Beck, was due to arrive any minute to meet with the blond, who was not-so-blond anymore, and discuss a truce with the recently usurped Arturo Mendoza. Gillian was fashionably late and would make a show of apologizing profusely, but it was still a slap to Spike’s face.
Spike didn’t mind much though since he didn’t expect to get anywhere close to resolving the matter amiably. He, most certainly, had other intentions.
Becoming antsy, Faith watched the scene through the lens of her scope. The building opposite of her was mostly glass on the side she faced, making the job much easier - She would be able to get a bead on her targets without walls getting in her way. Sighing, she set the rifle down and lit a cigarette, relatively secure in the feeling that she had a few moments to waste before it was showtime.
She leaned back against the wall next to her window, casting a wary glance at the hogtied man lying unconscious on the bed. Hopefully, she didn’t hurt him too badly, but she needed this room and the poor fool had been unlucky enough to have arrived at the hotel and rented the place right after her reservation had expired.
She had been fashionably late too.
With a slight grin, she crushed her cigarette out in the carpet, pocketing the butt, and then turned back to her task, pleased to see almost all the vampires bowing - just enough to say that they did - to the handsome new arrival.
Lifting her weapon, she waited.
~~~*~~~
Lately, Buffy was into self-reflection.
That hadn’t always been the case though. For months, after barely escaping Sunnydale, she had been nothing but a relentless hunter. All about her prey, she and the new slayers sought out and destroyed demons bent on making this earth a hell. While the slayers were otherwise occupied, vampires, sly as they are, had taken the opportunity to infiltrate human society’s financial and political arenas, strategically turning CEOs and government officials in key positions. Humans were still blind to their existence, but now the cover up of vampire killings was a lot easier to manage. When the chief of police was a blood sucking fiend, a lot of evidence got buried.
Faced with the decision of what to focus on, mildly ambitious vampires or world-dominating demons, she used her resources wisely, vowing to deal with the undead later. So she had been busy, too busy to worry about her personal relationships.
Until she caught wind of Faith and Spike. Then she had to pay attention.
That they would get together wasn’t exactly a foreign notion in her mind. She had walked in on them getting very cozy in her basement one afternoon when they thought she was at work. But she was still shocked because, well, Spike was dead. Like really dead. Like dead a third time after the Wolfram and Hart fiasco in Los Angeles. That was what Giles had told her.
But Giles had a tendency to be a little biased in these matters so how stupid was she going to be? Again?
Spike and Faith.
As unpleasant as it was, she let that picture form in her mind and tried to examine her feelings on the matter. Surprisingly, the vampire was easier so she went there first. Spike was hers in that same way that she considered Dawn hers. She created them, not intentionally either one. Dawn was made from her, flesh of her flesh and blood of her blood. And Spike, this new Spike that strove to be a man, came from his love for her and she claimed him as quickly now as she did Angel. Hers. And most definitely not Faith’s. That it was Faith who he was with now did rankle…hard…but that was Buffy’s issue as well.
Faith was her sister in slayage, the True Slayer where Buffy was the Original Slayer, and they both felt that legendary vibe when around the newbies which was nice, if dangerously flattering. This common bond should’ve brought them closer and sometimes it did, but that never lasted. The drifting apart was only a matter of when, not if. And it wasn’t Faith shutting her out. The younger slayer was always open. She always had been…excluding her time as the evilest-little-chosen-one-ever-chosen…and during her senior year, they had done some girl-bonding that no one had the slightest clue about -- although Xander often hinted at it. No…it was Buffy who inevitably pulled away.
If she was being completely honest - and that was what this whole self-reflection thing was about - she would admit that from the day Faith arrived and snatched Mr. Pointy to stake a vamp, Buffy had been selfish. She hadn’t wanted to share her town, her watcher, her friends, her destiny with this girl who was powerful, witty, beautiful…competition. Kendra, bless her, had been okay and very non-threatening in the friends stealing department, whereas Faith had the gang, even Oz, mesmerized from Day One. And it had angered Buffy that Faith could make them fall in like with her so effortlessly. Frightened, Buffy rebelled against everything involving the brunette, something inside her unwilling to give the smallest piece of her life to a girl who didn’t have much.
At the time, Faith hid her own fear and loneliness well so Buffy hadn’t been very careful of the other girl’s feelings. Looking back, she was pretty sure that it was the desire for someone to want her and be there for her that drove Faith to the Major, not some innate badness. And she was also painfully aware that she and the other Scoobies played a huge part in keeping her away.
“Flight 197 to Miami is now boarding,” the attendant announced over the PA system.
Grabbing her carryon, Buffy readied herself for boarding. “Hope you like surprises…”
~~~*~~~
Spike reclined on the bed, his arm supported by a wad of folded towels while Faith worked with the medical tweezers.
“Bloody fuck…” he groaned. He was going to kill her, bite her hard and deep, for this one. Wooden bullets were great, but not when they hit him.
“Said I was sorry,” she whispered and stopped to wipe sweat from her brow with her forearm.
“Fat lot of good sorry is when I’m dust,” he complained, then took a drag off his cigarette. He thought about flicking the ashes in her hair, then let his head drop back against the pillow, disgusted with the level of evil he was now reduced to.
“Hey, you were supposed to duck. Not my fault you wanted to go all Mike Tyson on their asses. The plan is the plan.” Finally, she reached her target and twisted the tweezers around to get a proper grip. Spike squirmed.
“Yeah, well, I’m shit for sticking to the plan and you know it. Should be prepared to improvise and all when I’m invooo…ow, ow, OW!” he shouted as she pulled the bullet out.
She kept the wound spread open, peering at it intently. “I don’t see any splinters so I think we’re all done.” She nudged him. “Stitches?”
Eyes closed, he shook his head slightly. “Just some aspirin, pet.”
She frowned at that, but rolled off the bed to get the painkillers out of her bag. A few minutes later, she returned and took the cigarette from him, crushing it out in the ashtray before handing over two Motrin and a glass of water. Once he finished, she wrapped his arm in a clean bandage.
They hadn’t thought to bring a supply of blood, so she left him to heal and cleared away the mess of the impromptu surgery, tossing the bloody towels on the bathroom floor. He could hear her as she took a long hot shower; the sound of the water hitting the tile lulled him to sleep.
He dozed for what seemed like only moments, but when Spike woke it was just before noon and Faith was curled up next to him, warm naked flesh pressed to his uninjured side. Her hair was damp and cool against his cheek. Ignoring the blossoming pain in his arm, he rolled over, the motion moving her unto her back and he slid inside her, kissing her gently until she awakened.
“Hungry,” he groused in her ear as he fucked her slowly.
She nodded and he let his features change.
~~~*~~~
“The weatherman says that hurricane changed course overnight and it’s approaching again,” Spike told her while he filled his pack. “Better call the airport to check on our flight. I don’t fancy getting stuck in a huge building with even huger glass walls.”
Faith walked passed and tossed him her cell phone. “Here. Be my guest.”
Rolling his eyes, Spike dialed 4-1-1. A loud knocking stopped him from hitting TALK. He exchanged a glance with Faith and crept up to the door while she pulled out a stake. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, those same eyes popping open seconds later as he turned to gape at Faith and mouthed one word before opening the door.
“Spike.” The tiny blonde stared up at him, a weird mixture of fear and expectation in her eyes. “You’re really alive…again,” she whispered, blinking rapidly, refusing to cry.
“Hello Buffy,” he replied almost sheepishly and moved back to allow her inside.
She stepped in and placed her bag against the wall before she spotted the other slayer. “Hey, Faith.”
Faith gave an awkward wave and a flash of dimples. “Hey, B. What brings you to the Sunshine State?” She tossed the stake on the bed.
“Him…mostly. But I got the council to pay for it by telling Giles I was going to check on that little vampire problem in South Beach.” She was back to staring at him. He allowed it, this embarrassment from having her undivided attention easier to deal with than her wrath, which was sure to follow soon.
“Actually, that’s a done deal,” Faith advised her.
This got Buffy’s attention and she stopped gawking at Spike to finally see the other slayer. She was leaner, that jail fat gone like it had never been, and very tan. Attractive and she could easily see what Spike saw in her. “A done deal? Explain.”
“What’s to explain?” Faith inquired with a grin. “We came, we fought, we killed the bad guys.”
Buffy glanced at them both. “Together.” It wasn’t a question, but they both nodded and she crossed her arms. “Since when?”
Spike saw this shift in her mood for what it was and stepped over to her. ”Look Buffy. Angel’s been watching these guys for months. When Gillian made his move, Arturo started tearing up the city trying to get his territory back. Angel owed Arturo a favor and was asked to negotiate a deal. He sent me. And you know how I deal with things, luv.” And now he was grinning. That grin that meant he was very pleased with himself and for a moment, Buffy forgot why she had come and was just happy to see him. Happy that he still existed and could smile like that.
Something inside her also hurt and she looked away, at Faith now who was stuffing toiletries in a duffle bag. “So job’s all done and you guys are heading back to…”
“The Wild, Wild West, B. Where your ex honey is hold up waiting to send us out on the next mission.”
There was that we word again. Buffy liked that less and less and she turned to Spike, hands on her hips. “So what, you’re just Angel’s foot soldier now. His…his demon hitman? You guys hate each other.”
Spike leaned against the dresser and crossed his arms. If Buffy wanted a fight after seeing him for the first time since Sunnydale collapsed, then he would give her one. “Didn’t see you complaining when I was yours. The way I remember it, I was cannon fodder for your precious Scoobies on a good day and convenient…when you had an itch to scratch.”
Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to wrap her brain around the fact the he was throwing that up in her face. And in front of Faith!
“That’s not fair, Spike. Don’t start this,” she grounded out through clenched teeth, finally finding her voice.
“Don’t start?” he yelled. “You come here, unannounced, with your judgmental hands on your judgmental hips...um…well, judging what we do…”
“Who’s this we, Spike!? Huh? You and Angel ? Or is it you and Faith?” She had marched over to him and was now glaring up in his face, trying to ignore how blue his eyes were and how stormy they got when he was restraining his anger at her. He still cared, she was sure of it.
He pushed off the dresser and was standing toe-to-toe with her, eyes blazing, when Faith shoved her way between them.
“Hold up! No fighting in the high-priced hotel room that has my credit card on file for the deposit.” She dragged Spike away from Buffy’s clenched fists and toward the door. “Why don’t you call the airport and go check us out if the flight is on schedule?”
He still had the cell phone in his hand and stared down at her, then at the other slayer before relenting with a nod. “Be back in a minute. Play nice.”
Faith grinned. “Don’t I always?”
He shook his head. “Not in my experience, no,” he sighed, but left them anyway, hoping he didn’t come back to find a massacre.
Once the door was closed, Faith turned to the seething blonde across the room. “What’s the deal, B?”
Buffy shrugged. “No deal. I just heard a rumor and needed to see what you guys were up to behind my back.”
“Damn B.” Faith pulled a cigarette out from its comrades and shoved the pack in Spike’s backpack. “You act like he was your…boyfriend or something.” She slipped a lighter from her back pocket, a Zippo that Buffy knew all too well, and lit it while watching the blonde.
“He’s not. I know that, but…you…we were tight, Faith. For a while.”
Faith took a long drag. “And you stopped calling…again.”
“I…I had that thing with those Hetvari demons in Brussels!” she pouted, feeling a childish urge to stomp her foot. She couldn’t believe Faith was trying to turn this around on her.
“And before that it was Kopavogur. And before that Milan, which just happen to coincide with Fashion Week...”
“Okay, so I don’t give you the time you want and you go find my…find Spike and do God knows what?”
“It wasn’t like that. Angel needed help and found me. You know how me and the Big Guy work, B. I’m always gonna be there for him.”
“And doing Spike was part of helping Angel?”
“Look,” she crushed her smoke out in an ashtray. “You wanna know what’s up. I get that. But whatever happened to calling a bitch? You could’ve just asked me.”
Buffy walked over to her, eyes narrowed to mean little slits. “And you would’ve told a bitch? Like you told me you were skipping around the country with Spike doing Angel’s dirty work?” She brought her hand up to touch Faith’s cheek, but pushed her hair dark tresses back over her shoulder instead, exposing the nearly-healed holes on her neck. “Like you told me you’re letting him bite you.”
Faith scooted away quickly, pulling her hair back in place. “I shot him.” Buffy only raised her eyebrows at that, waiting. “With wooden bullets…”
“What? Faith, what the hell …” She started for the other slayer.
“Chill with the protective mommy act. It was an accident. Blondie didn’t stick to the plan and got caught in the line of fire. Point is, we didn’t have blood and he needed some.”
“So you just open up a vein? Faith! For a smart girl you can really ride the short bus sometimes.”
Faith shrugged, getting mad, but refusing to show it. “Yeah, but at least I’m riding with all the cool vamps.”
Feeling frustrated, Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was getting them nowhere and she was beginning to think she shouldn’t have come at all. What either of them did wasn’t her business. Not really. Faith was making that very clear. And Spike had already brushed her off in his own way.
“So you two really got rid of that Gillian guy?” A subject change was in order and Buffy was nothing if not great at deflecting. “And since when do you have a credit card?” she asked, smiling slightly.
Grateful that the inquisition was over, Faith played along. “Not in my name. You know I’m still a wanted felon. But Angel’s got connections.”
The room phone rang and Faith was grateful for that reprieve as well. She answered it, knowing it was Spike and they conversed for half a moment before she hung up and faced the blonde. “Airport’s still open,” Faith announced, grabbing their bags hurriedly.
Buffy nodded and grabbed her own before turning to Faith. “You know this is me totally giving you the shovel speech.”
“The shovel speech?” Faith asked and opened the door for them.
“Yep. You hurt him and I get to beat you over the head with one. Standard disclaimer.”
Faith stared at her for a beat, wondering if this was once of those hug moments, and then smiled as she slipped away toward the elevator. Buffy closed the door behind them, watching Faith’s ass, and prepared to give Spike the same speech downstairs.
Self-reflection was a bitch.
****
end