This Is How It Goes

Xander had been looking back and forth between the two Slayers as their exchange went to increasingly strange places. "Uh, so you guys know each other?"

Faith walked over to them, handing the stake to Buffy. "Buffy here," she jerked her thumb at the other girl and Buffy looked surprised to hear her name, "decided to hate on my man Johnny last night and shunted me to one of her own lame dreams that had a whole lot less bathroom linoleum than I was lookin' for."

"I'm sure that clears things up completely," Buffy said sarcastically, turning to Xander. "We kind of shared a dream for like 20 seconds. No big deal, really."

"Oh," Xander said faintly. "That's a pretty common thing for Slayers?" Faith shrugged. Buffy just looked annoyed. "So, what are the chances of a personal invite?" Buffy smacked him on the arm and he flinched.

~ — ~ — ~

Buffy shot surreptitious glances at Faith as they made their way back into the club. She walked with the kind of swagger reserved for movie stars and people with large guns, Buffy thought. Leather pants, swaying hips, leisurely stroll, walking into the club as if the manager was her lap dog — Faith was the image of supreme confidence.

The Slayer thing makes the sharing head-space more believable, Buffy thought reluctantly. We do have a connection, regardless of how little I want to be connected to her. It also explained the bizarre sense of familiarity. She saw part of her own skills and strength in Faith, saw something that pulled at her memory and gut. But that was their only avenue of connection, she thought firmly. And then tried to remind herself to keep an open mind as Faith cockily plopped down in her seat and took a big swig from her drink. Something about Faith just ... unnerved her.

Willow looked positively shocked that the girl from the dance floor had sat next to them. She glanced at Xander disbelievingly and he shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, Wil, she didn't fall for my manly charms."

"I'm a Slayer," Faith said shortly.

"Oh," Willow said weakly. "I'm, uh, Willow."

"Xander," he said, waving and grinning like an idiot. Buffy glared.

"Oh!" Willow said again, but in understanding. "`Cause of that minor problem we had where Kendra died and Buffy was on the run from the cops and Spike and Drusilla wreaked bloody havoc on the entire town. You were called." Her voice trailed off slightly as she realized the length of her sentence.

"Looks like," Faith said, smirking at them. She seemed to enjoy the unsettling effect she had on other people. "So, B," Buffy irritably registered her new nickname and Faith continued, "heard this place was some kinda demon magnet. Like, all the creepies and nasties just show up here."

"Yeah, pretty much. Called a hellmouth," Buffy said curtly.

"That's a cheery name," Faith said, smirking and continuing to take large gulps of Buffy's drink. "Keeps you occupied, huh?"

"You have no idea."

"Yeah, I got a couple of wicked vamp stories myself. This one time in Boston, man, it was so hot that summer that I just made it a habit to sleep naked ..." Faith began to tell one story after another, her hands gesturing elaborately, her face lighting up as she recounted her kills. Buffy found herself staring at her, this stranger with whom she shared something deep and primal. She seemed so ... alive. So vivid and happy. It was painfully obvious how much she enjoyed slaying, the hunt, the satisfaction of dust staining her hands.

Buffy thought about her dream, the stark contrast between Faith's intense, dark face as she talked about blood and rain, and her bright, animated face as she now talked about taking on six vampires at a carnival with a stuffed animal, all of them covered in pink cotton candy. Buffy ignored the questionable veracity of that story and continued to look at Faith, trying to see through her, trying to see what made her so different from herself. She saw dark eyes, framed by an unhealthy amount of dark eye shadow and eyeliner, dark red lipstick, a tattoo on Faith's right bicep of some sort of design, tight leather covering almost her entire body.

There was something coiled and dangerous about her, as if a force was moving beneath the surface. Buffy felt mundane and uninteresting next to Faith. Most importantly, she felt enervated next to Faith's vibrant energy, like she had been slaying, but Faith had been living while doing it. Buffy flashed again onto Angel's face, how the sword had felt sliding through him, and felt a wrenching in her chest. Slaying hadn't been especially enjoyable since then.

She looked up to find everyone staring at her. Crap.

"Uh, what was the question?" she asked, feeling like she had just been caught doodling in class.

Faith grinned at her. Buffy noticed for the first time how obscenely attractive her dimples were. "Just askin' whether you felt the double h's after slaying."

"The what now?"

"Hungry and horny, B. Some reason, slaying vamps just gives me a wicked urge for food and screwing. Usually not at the same time, but I got an open mind." She cocked her head, smirking indecently.

Buffy blinked. "Uh, I — don't think I've ever had that particular experience." She blushed and Faith looked inappropriately happy at her discomfort.

Trying to change the subject and take all of the stares off of her increasingly red face, Buffy said quickly, "So, Faith, you ready for some of that good, clean slaying fun without those pesky h-words? I could show you around Sunnydale, you know, go to all the happening places. By which I mean cemeteries."

Faith's chair scraped as she got up and grabbed her jacket. "Hell yeah, B. I've been itchin' for some better fighting than that loser from earlier. Lead the way.

~ — ~ — ~

The night was quiet and still. Their shoes rustling the leaves and the occasional breeze provided the only noises. The two Slayers walked side by side, peering into the darkness.

"So ..." Buffy tried to start a conversation, the silence disconcerting, but had no idea what she was going to say. Faith glanced at her.

"Did you talk to your Watcher at all about our, uh, dream incident?" Buffy asked.

"Nah. She left to go on some Council retreat, so I skipped town to see what the famous Buffy Summers is really like." Faith grinned sideways at her.

"What retrea — I'm famous?" Buffy asked, uncertain and a little flattered.

"You got mentioned, yeah. Heard that you kicked some major ass. Gotta say," Faith said, shaking her head in admiration, "I give props to any skinny little chick like you who can use a rocket launcher."

Buffy's stomach clenched, remembering the context. "Yeah, I redefine the Slayer handbook. Who knew crossbows just didn't cut it against an impervious demon?" she said weakly.

Faith caught the change in tone and looked at her intently, frowning. "Rough kill, huh?" she asked.

Buffy glanced at her, surprised. "Uh, yeah, actually. I — I'm kind of still not in a good place to talk about it."

Faith held up her hands. "S'okay. I had a couple of those myself."

"And here I thought cotton candy was easy slaying," Buffy said lightly.

Faith snorted. "You'd be surprised, blondie. But, slayin's not all dust to dust, you know? Just `cause a demon's killed don't mean it's gone." Her tone lost its teasing, and Buffy caught something somber and aching underneath it.

Buffy opened her mouth to ask, in a semi-tactful way, what had happened to her, but the two Slayers abruptly stopped walking as a tingling sensation went up their spines. Buffy looked at Faith and saw her staring back with an almost juvenile eagerness that lit up her entire face. It was adorable, Buffy thought, and then realized what had just gone through her head. I'm obviously going insane, Buffy considered seriously. It was bound to happen eventually.

They turned to the source of tingles and saw a group of five vampires prowling around the edge of the cemetery. One of them stopped and inhaled through his nose, a predatory smirk gracing his not so attractive features.

"Well, well. Check out the brave little girls. Mall too busy?" he asked, smirking. The other vampires stopped and turned their heads to stare at Buffy and Faith as well.

The two Slayers began walking forwards casually, confidently, glancing at each other again.

"Nah, we just needed a little fresh air, you know? `Course, if we had realized that `fresh air' meant smelling assholes who haven't discovered hygiene, we mighta reconsidered," Faith said loudly and arrogantly.

The vampires growled, and launched themselves in a completely disorganized way at Buffy and Faith. Buffy rolled forward, coming up with a kick to one of the vampires' chests. He grunted as he was propelled in a nearby tree. The other vampires froze.

"That was unexpected," one of them said intelligently.

Buffy and Faith didn't give them a chance to consider another option, throwing themselves into the group with fists and feet, taking on two vampires each. Buffy blocked a punch from one of them, following up with a left hook and a stake to the chest. She moved immediately through his dust, catching the other one by surprise and sweeping out her legs. She went down and Buffy moved to plunge the stake in but was stopped by a foot to the face. Right, left, dancing around, punch to the ribs, and finally Buffy found an opening and felt wood pierce the vampire's heart.

She started to move towards Faith and stopped suddenly. Buffy stared at the other Slayer in utter fascination. Faith moved like liquid, like confident, violent liquid. Legs and arms swung through the air fluidly, unerringly finding their target. Technique wasn't really an issue, as Faith seemed to combine and invent moves as easily as she breathed. Her face was contorted in concentration and pleasure, nakedly caught up in the thrill of the fight. Muscles moved seamlessly under skin, her tattoo twisting with the fierce motions of her arms. It was like watching a beautiful, deadly work of art flow. That coiled, dangerous energy Buffy had seen before wasn't coiled anymore — it was undulating in waves.

Buffy thought vaguely that this was the only time tonight she had actually seen Faith. She realized that she was breathing heavily and promptly felt like a perv as she noticed she had been standing and staring at Faith for the past minute. Faith backed the last vampire into a gravestone, jabbing and kicking incessantly, and plunged the stake home. She turned back around to Buffy, grinning maniacally.

"Goddam. That was wicked fun. Vamps are just more fun to punch here than they are in Boston," Faith said breathlessly.

Buffy stared at her, feeling as if she was intruding on something private. "You really enjoy this, huh?"

"Fuckin' a." Faith smirked at her. "Don't tell me you don't, B. I caught that little bit of bullshit back in the club. You get off on this, same as me."

Buffy flushed without really understanding why, her stomach performing a complex swoop.

"C'mon, princess. Let's go be burdened by the responsibility of slaying some more." She jerked her head in another direction, still smirking cockily at Buffy.

Faith walked off, leaving Buffy feeling as if she had just entered a play without knowing the lines or stage directions. Buffy stared vaguely at Faith's retreating form and then, blinking herself out of her stupor, jogged after the other Slayer.

Chapter 2: White Knight

Author's Notes: Much, much thanks to everyone who reviewed my first chapter. I really appreciate all the feedback and encouragement. Henceforth, I am officially inspired. This story ain't stopping till it's done.

Buffy entered the library the next day to find Faith sitting at the table as if she had always been there, laughing with Willow and Xander. They turned their heads as she approached, all of them still grinning at something riotously funny.

"Buffy!" Willow said loudly and happily. "Faith was just telling us some more wacky Slayer stories. Did you know that Delket demons re-grow fingernails almost instantaneously?" She looked at Faith with something uncomfortably close to hero worship and Faith gave her a lopsided smirk in return.

"I can't say I did," Buffy said, irrationally jealous all of a sudden. She realized with no small amount of trepidation that she didn't know who she was jealous of. "Must have real trouble finding a roommate willing to put up with the constant nail clipping."

Giles came out of the office, staring intently at a book and chewing on the end of his glasses.

"Giles," Buffy said. He glanced up. "So, I assume you and Faith have met?" she asked, almost warily.

"Ah, yes." He smiled fondly at Faith, like they had known each other for years. "She was just telling me about her Watcher. We've actually met several times during Council events. Extraordinary lady."

Buffy glanced at Faith and saw a brief and intense sadness flash across her face, echoing yesterday. She felt a rush of something resembling protectiveness and almost slapped herself.

"Yeah, she's a pretty sweet chick. Plucked me off the streets of South Boston and told me straight-up, no sugar-coatin' it, that I was meant to kill vampires. Kinda blows a girl's mind," Faith said, re-applying her cocky smirk so quickly and convincingly that Buffy almost thought she had imagined that flicker.

Willow and Xander were staring at her, their mouths slightly open.

"So, you just went and started slaying? No girly screaming?" Xander asked eagerly.

Buffy glared at him. "Just to set the record straight, my screams were definitely of the warrior variety."

Faith glanced at her briefly, raising an eyebrow. "`Course they were, B." She turned her head towards Xander. "I didn't just say, okay, point me at the nearest undead fucker. Took some convincing. But, it felt right, you know? Like that was what I was supposed to be doing."

More worshipful staring, as well as a little flinch from Giles at her language.

"Buffy, I'd like you to begin patrolling with Faith on a regular basis," Giles said during a lull in the nauseating Faith-loving convention. "The arrangement will make it safer for both of you."

Buffy looked at the ceiling, sighing melodramatically. She had expected this, but felt a surge of anxiety she couldn't explain. Faith was another Slayer. Giles was right — it would be a lot safer patrolling with her. And yet, there was something ... off about her. Something unstable. She was keeping something from them, and Buffy knew it would come out sooner or later. Hopefully sooner.

~ — ~ — ~

"So, after about 17 failed relationships with complete assholes, I realized that simple is better." Faith shrugged. "Get some, get gone. Made my life a lot less complicated, gotta tell you."

Buffy looked sideways at her. "I can see the advantages of that," she said quietly.