Adults

A few minutes later, three vampires and a live Slayer were sitting around a table in the hotel’s kitchen. Angel had played the perfect host, and offered beverages to his guests. Warm blood for his Childe, coffee for both Slayers. He suspected that Buffy didn’t want Faith to know that she was now a vampire, and he was wondering whether the brunette would be able to ‘feel’ the change or not with her Slayer’s instincts.

Faith had given up her teasing, and even apologized for it – to him, though, not to Buffy. Spike’s eyes were not leaving the blonde Slayer and he was completely ignoring Faith. Unless Angel missed his guess completely, his Childe was simply avoiding giving Buffy the barest hint of a reason to be jealous, which was certainly a good idea. Buffy’s was studying Faith, gauging her. She had calmed down since the first exchange in the lobby, but she was still very tense.

For a long moment, there was only a very uncomfortable silence. Then Buffy spoke, coldly and emotionlessly.

“I am not here to fight, and as long as you don’t provoke me I won’t kick your sorry ass.”

Faith chuckled lightly as she raised her coffee cup in a mock toast.

“So generous of you, B. So why are you here? Come to celebrate my parole?”

Like Spike, Angel kept silent. He was there to make sure they wouldn’t jump at each other’s throats, but as he had said before, they were adults. It was time they settled old grudges once and for all.

“I’m here because the Council wants you back. They agree that you’ve paid for your mistakes and they want…”

Faith’s laugh cut off Buffy in the middle of her explanation. The blonde shot a murderous glance at the brunette, but said nothing. Faith’s laugh ceased as abruptly as it had started.

“They don’t want me back,” she said harshly. “They want me dead. Is that why they sent you? They thought it would take Super B, the wonderful and almighty Slayer, to take down the bad girl?”

Buffy shook her head, frowning slightly, her hands gripping her cup so hard it was a wonder that she hadn’t broken it yet.

“As I said, I’m not here to fight. I am just a messenger.”

Faith snorted. “Here’s a message for the Council, then. I know they want me dead. I know about the girls they paid to kill me in jail. And their attempt the day I was released was just pitiful. Tell them that from me, B. I’m not playing that game any more. I’m done with slaying and demons. But if they come after me, I still know how to defend myself.”

She rose to her feet, and before striding away, cast a challenging glance at Buffy.

“I don’t want to fight you. So don’t force me to.”

With that, she left the kitchen, and Angel watched her climb the steps. Off to her room, then. He glanced at Buffy, finding her frowning and looking puzzled.

“Did you know they tried to have her killed?” she asked Angel blankly.

He shook his head. “News to me. But then, she’s been avoiding talking about the past. Anything Slayer-related is off limits.”

There was some noise in the lobby and, seconds later, Steven was entering the kitchen. His face brightened with a huge grin as he saw Buffy and Spike, and Angel couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy. Things had certainly improved a lot since his son had come back to him, but he still couldn’t understand why the boy had given freely to Spike the trust that Angel had had to earn so painstakingly.

“Hey, kid,” Spike said with a smile as bright as Steven’s. “And before you ask; no, she’s not here.”

Steven laughed a little, his cheeks coloring slightly. “Hi, guys. Up for a round?” he asked, hope filling his voice.

Spike’s eyes questioned Buffy, who seemed to suddenly come out of her thoughts and notice Steven for the first time. She gave him a little wave, before nodding to Spike.

“You two go ahead,” she said absently. “I’ll come watch you later. And I’ll take the winner.”

Angel caught Spike’s gaze as he walked by him, giving him a silent warning. Spike rolled his eyes, but said nothing as he strolled after the boy. As quickly as that, his son and his Childe were gone, and Angel was left to contemplate that Steven had barely even acknowledged his presence. What in hell would it take? They had shared a lot of good times in the last few years, but even after all that it seemed that it still wasn’t enough for Steven. Blaming a dead man was easy, but cursing Holtz wasn’t very satisfying.

Buffy rising from her chair pulled him out of his thoughts. I was not brooding, he assured himself.

“I need to talk to her,” she said slowly. “Alone. Can you show me where her room is?”

He pondered that for an instant, not quite sure that leaving the two Slayers by themselves was the best thing to do. But, if he expected them to behave as adults, he might as well treat them as such.

“Come in.”

Buffy pushed the door open and closed it carefully behind her. She didn’t step further into the room, but simply leaned against the door. Faith was sitting on the narrow bed, watching a TV on the opposite wall. She used the remote to turn down the sound and levelly returned Buffy’s stare.

“So, B…you gonna try and kill me?”

“No. You?”

“Not in my plans.”

Buffy relaxed a little and let her back slide down the door until she was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her hands on her knees. Her eyes never left Faith’s.

“And what are your plans?”

The brunette shrugged. “Nothing fancy. A job, a place to live, friends, a cute guy. Normal stuff.”

Despite herself, Buffy found herself nodding. The “normal things” she had been wanting, too…for a long time. Before realizing that they were things a Slayer never easily got. Weirdly enough, she had all of them, now that she was dead. Or undead, as Spike liked to say. Yet, if that was what Faith truly wanted, she was not making a good start.

“You won’t get a normal life living with a vampire,” Buffy pointed out.

The barest smile flirted with Faith’s lips. “Jealous? Blondie is not enough for you and you want two for the price of one?”

Buffy shook her head, feeling herself getting annoyed at the other girl’s insinuations.

“You can do whatever you want with Angel, he doesn’t need me to take care of his business. And Spike is quite enough for me, thank you very much.”

Faith watched her for a little while, before saying at last:

“I’m only here until I get my own place. Nothing more. Even if Angel was interested, I can’t fall into that trap again. I want a cute guy, but I need him human.”

Buffy was pondering these words, trying to decide whether Faith was sincere or simply playing an act, when the brunette added, suddenly very serious:

“Talking about cute guys, I did hit on blondie, hard, but that’s all. So don’t get too bad with him.”

Annoyance threatened to turn into plain anger again as Buffy was reminded of how and when Spike and Faith had met before. She couldn’t help frowning, but managed to bite back the nasty comment she had on the tip of her tongue. Instead, she asked:

“Why are you so sure the Council wants you dead?”

“When I was released, there was a van waiting for me,” Faith answered calmly. “Little fight, nothing difficult, except that they had guns and were ready to use them. I was lucky. Very lucky. And before that, in jail, a few girls tried to off me. I’m sure at least two of them worked for the Tweed Brigade.”

Buffy found herself surprised at how composed Faith was as she was explaining all that.

“They didn’t ask me to kill you,” Buffy said, not understanding how all of this could fit together. “They told me that you were free and that they wanted a Slayer to work with. That was all. No death talk.”

Faith tilted her head, the barest frown on her forehead.

“They have you, they don’t need me.”

“Nope, I don’t work for them. This is a one time deal.”

They both kept silent for a little while. Buffy was thinking back of the time when, in Faith’s body, she had been in the Council’s grip. They certainly had seemed ready to dispose of her – of Faith – then. So maybe she wasn’t paranoid after all. In her mind, she replayed the conversation she had had with Travers. And suddenly, she understood.

“They said they wanted a Slayer. They never said they wanted you.”

Faith’s eyes widened a little as she understood too.

“So they send you, knowing that you and I have a few… unresolved problems, and they hope you’re gonna kill me…”

“So another Slayer will be called and they can try to control her,” Buffy finished.

Cursing under her nonexistent breath, Buffy banged her head against the door.

“How could I be so stupid!” she said softly.

“Well, you’re a blonde after all,” Faith said with a grin.

Buffy’s deadly stare softened when she realized Faith was just teasing her.

“So, now that you know what they want,” the brunette said in a too light tone, “you changed your mind about killing me?”

“I don’t kill humans,” Buffy said flatly.

Instantly, Faith’s face closed, all lightness gone, replaced by something that very much resembled pain.

“That’s where you and I are different, isn’t it?” Faith said almost too quietly for Buffy to hear.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“That’s OK. I’ve made mistakes, I admit it.”

As she watched the other Slayer, Buffy finally realized that Angel was right. The girl had changed. And she wanted nothing to do with anything from her previous life. So, even if the Council had indeed wanted her, she would have refused their offer. Of course, it seemed clear by now that they only wanted her dead.

“You know, they won’t stop trying until they manage to kill you.”

And if I don’t do it, Buffy finished mentally, they will come after me and Spike too.

“I know,” Faith replied simply.

Buffy got to her feet, and shook her head at the mess she was in. She opened the door and started out, but Faith’s unusually soft voice caught her before she could close it again.

“Buffy… I’m sorry.”

The blonde flashed the brunette a tentative smile.

“Me too.”