The Bronze was busy tonight, filled with a mix of the normal and
abnormal in Sunnydale. Oz and the Dingo's played up on the stage, the
young man singing with that wistful sadness he was so good at, the
Professor drank her bottle of wine at her table, dreaming of the perfect
super- soldier, and a dozen other types were mixing with the mob.
Tara wiped the top of the bar off with a rag as the brown haired
bartender looked up in surprise at Faith and asked, "Buffy has a little
sister?"
Faith chuckled softly. "Dawn's a nice enough kid," she nodded,
"I left the three of them there to get better acquainted and went to
check in with Giles. The G-man's not happy about it, but there's not
much he can do."
The tight t-shirt Faith wore hugged her breasts distractingly
and Tara looked away nervously. Combined with the leather pants and the
dark haired woman looked like somebody's dangerous wet-dream. 'Wonder
who she's hunting tonight?' Tara wondered.
"So what do you think of the kid being here?" Faith asked,
leaning forward to reveal some more of her breasts.
Tara looked away, a blush creeping up on her face. "I don't like
it," she said crisply, turning to sort the bottles and regain some of
her composure, "having an ordinary girl living in the same house with a
vampire slayer is just asking for trouble."
"Oh come on," Faith scoffed, "it's not that bad. As long as the
kid sticks with daylight and doesn't invite a vampire inside the
house...."
"You know that isn't as easy as it sounds," Tara scowled.
Faith looked at Tara thoughtfully a moment. "What you're really
unhappy about," she finally said, "is having her in that house with
Willow, am I right?"
"I don't trust her," Tara admitted, "soul or no soul. However,
the leader of our coven has spoken, and I have to abide by it."
"That has to suck," Faith said. She gestured and Tara quickly
produced a bottle of beer for the Slayer. "Thanks," she took a drink
from the bottle with a smile.
"It goes on your tab," Tara said dryly and Faith snickered. A
bit more seriously she said, "Thanks for coming around so much lately. I
noticed we have less fights when you're here and..." she hesitated,
"it's nice to have the company."
Faith actually blushed a bit, "Thanks." She was about to say
something else when her pager went off, nearly making her jump. "Damn,"
she cursed, checking the number.
"Trouble?" Tara asked.
Fath clipped it back onto her belt as she sighed, "G-man, of
course. Gotta go." And with that Faith strode away from the bar, running
through a litany of cursewords in her mind. 'G, you're timing really
sucks,' she thought.
The library was still open, night courses that were held at
Sunnydale High keeping it open long into the night. One would think that
the vampire problem the city had would cause the city to cut back on
nighttime activities, but the authorities continued to ignore the
strange occurences. It was as if they thought keeping their eyes firmly
shut would make the bad stuff go away.
"Ah, Faith," Giles looked up from the book he was reading,
peering over his spectacles as he said, "just in time."
"You paged me?" Faith asked impatiently.
“We need to talk about the council’s decision regarding your
remaining here,” Giles said with a slight smile.
Faith frowned, wondering at the odd tone of his voice. “So what
have the old coots in England decided?” she asked warily.
Giles suddenly smiled, “They’ve agreed to extend your tenure
here for the foreseeable future....”
“All right!” Faith cheered.
“... baring any unforeseen complications,” Giles finished.
“Like...?” Faith asked.
“Some event requiring a Slayer’s intervention,” Giles said. He
smiled a bit at Faith’s fierce look, “The Council wants to keep you
available if needed, but at least they’re willing to let you stay.”
Faith walked over to one of the chairs, flopping down casually.
“Well, thanks for that,” she said. Softly she added, “It’s pretty hard
dating when you know you’re leaving town in a few days....”
Giles looked a little startled at that. “Is there someone you’re
involved with?” he asked her tentatively.
“Someone I’m interested in, anyway,” Faith said with a smile.
She puffed out a sigh, “Too bad she doesn’t know about it yet.”
“She...?” Giles blinked. He shook his head, “I’m beginning to
wonder if there’s something about being a Slayer.”
That made Faith sit up again, “There’s been other Slayers who
were...”
“More often than not, yes....” Giles agreed. He looked
thoughtful, “There have been various attempts to determine what might be
the cause, of course.”
"How did they go about that?" Faith asked, tipping her head to
the side.
"They organized," Giles said with a dry humor, "a committee to
study the various Watchers' diaries to find any clues."
"Heaven forbid they actually ask a slayer," Faith snorted. “What
did they decide?” she asked curiously, an amused little smile on her
face.
"They theorized that it might be a quality carried over from the
mythic First Slayer," Giles said with a shrug."
"In other words they couldn't actually find an answer," Faith
shook her head with tired amusement, "so they just blamed her for it."
"What do you think?" Giles surprised her by asking. At her
startled look he added, "You did say to ask a Slayer."
"Well," Faith hesitated a moment, then said, "I think it has as
much to do with the danger our lives as Slayers have. We seek something
softer, more gentle in our relationshipos. Some Slayers find men like
that, but most of the time...."
"A woman provides that gentleness," Giles said thoughtfully. He
smiled wryly, "I don't know if I'd pass that on to the council."
"Guess they wouldn't want to know about lesbian tendencies in
their Slayers," Faith agreed. She got up, stretching out slightly, "So
are you and Miss Calendar knocking boots?"
"What?" Giles blinked.
"The horizontal bop?" Faith suggested, "Doing the nasty?"
Giles face went an interesting shade of vivid pink, almost rose.
"No we are not," he protested, "we're just good friends."
Faith nearly fell out of her chair, she was laughing so hard.
"You haven't been paying attention to the way she looks at you?" she
asked. A wicked smile, "Or how you act around her?"
"I can't believe we're having this conversation," Giles shook
his head.
"You dish it out but you can't take it," Faith smirked.
Giles ran his hand through his hair, "Jenny and I have known
each other a long time. We were both teaching here shortly before the
Master rose, but that event seperated us."
"Sorry," Faith said quietly.
"Both of us were working against the Master, her with the coven
and I with the vampire slayers I organized," Giles said. His eyes were
haunted, "When Willow attacked the coven they brought the injured Jenny
to me and we barely saved her."
"From what I saw she likes you," Faith said softly. She got up
out of her chair, stretching a bit before adding, "We only get so many
chances at this sort of thing." She smiled wryly, "And if you miss the
chance, it may never come around again."
Giles watched her leave the library silently, but his thoughts
were racing. He reached out to his desk lamp, turning it on to brighten
the dim room. Swiftly he reached out, picking up the phone and dialing
quickly.
"Jenny," Giles smiled, "how are you tonight?"
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