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Faith's face was blank, cool, collected. She was in control, dammit. Didn't matter if Buffy had kicked her ass even in Faith's own goddamn body. Didn't matter if once again, she was on the fringe, on the run, out of the loop. She wouldn't let anything sway her. Not like all the other times.
This time, she had let the Willow thing sway her, and that's what had gotten her caught. Little fucking blond witch. Willow's 'friend.' Sure. Tara was as much Willow's 'friend' as Faith was.
She looked around at the walls of the place she was staying in. They were watermarked, ugly. The entire room was dark and dank and horrible. But it was just for tonight. Just until she could figure a way out of this hellhole.
She lay her head back and let her mind wander backwards.
October, 1998: full moon
Willow and Faith ran down the hall, tracking the Oz-wolf as well as they could. Which, actually, was pretty well, considering that he was howling and growling like a...well, wolf.
They reached a corner, Willow panting and leaning on Faith; Faith holding up both the gun and Willow. "Where'd he go?" she wondered under her breath.
Will pointed. "There! I can hear him-"
Oz-wolf shot out from behind a vending machine. Both girls shrieked, but Faith managed to level the gun at the werewolf. "Uh, you have done this before, right?" Willow asked hesitantly.
Faith, staring down the gun barrel, made a sheepish face. "Well...I've shot things. But then it was mostly to kill-"
The tranquilizer dart ricocheted around the lounge as Willow tilted the gun barrel upwards. The Oz-wolf growled, then ran off, as far away from the two girls as he could.
Faith spun around, growling herself. She pinned Willow against the wall. "Red, just what the fuck do you think you're doing?"
Willow's green eyes were wide. Frightened. "S-sorry. But 'I usually shoot to kill' isn't very reassuring when you're aiming at my boyfriend. What if you hit a major artery or his eye or something?!"
"And it'd be so much better if your furry little honey goes off and kills someone else?" The redhead's innocent eyes turned towards the floor. "Just be careful," she said quietly. Faith nodded.
"This way?" Pointing towards an empty classroom, Faith pulled Willow by the wrist, the gun in her other hand.
"Yeah." Willow nodded shakily but followed. Just as they were about to look inside the open door, Oz-wolf ran out, a tiny, growling mass of fur. He threw himself on Faith as Willow started to scream.
"Ugh!" Faith grunted, trying to throw Oz-wolf off her. This little fucker was strong, despite his appearance: that of a big gay possum. She looked around her for the gun, but couldn't find it. She turned her head towards Willow, managing the keep Oz's muzzle away from her neck. "Where's the gun?" Willow shook her head, and Faith shrieked louder: "Where's the gun?"
"Get off her!" Willow was pulling on the Oz-wolf's tail, and Faith felt a wave of relief and approval sweep over her. The little girl had guts.
Guts that would be ripped out in twenty seconds, if Faith didn;t get up off her ass. Oz-wolf was chasing Willow down the hall, uncaring of the fact that eating his girlfriend might put a strain on the relationship. "Get the gun! Get the gun!"
Faith grabbed under her, relying on the off-chance that the gun was beneath her.
"Hurry!" Willow's tone was near-hysterical.
The gun was heavy, solid in her hands. Faith pressed the trigger and Oz-wolf fell to the ground with a whimper. She ran quickly over to the two fallen teens and helped Willow to her feet. Gesturing to the werewolf on the ground, Faith tried her best to sound nonchalant. :He'll be okay. Took it right in the ass. Much like a lot of other band members I've known," she mused.
Willow just smiled crookedly and grabbed Faith in an awkward hug. "Thank you," she breathed. Faith shivered, liking the feel of the other girl's breath on her ear.
Pulling away, Faith shrugged. "All in a day's work." On a whim, she leaned down to kiss the other girl on the cheek, but somehow the angles didn't match up right, or one of them shifted...
Willow's lips were on hers, soft and sweet and cool. Or her lips, streaked with red and undeniably swollen, were on Willow's. Either way, she liked it, and Willow wasn't exactly protesting either. Faith pulled the other girl closer, grabbing her by the back of the head and running a hand through the soft strands.
Their lips seperated with a soft sound; liquid, moist. Faith licked her lips, eyes still shut, trying to keep the taste of the other girl in her mouth as long as possible. She opened her eyes, looking drowsily at Willow through half-open lids. "That was nice."
Willow had one hand to her mouth; the other was running through her soft hair, making it unruly and causing it to form a staticy red halo around her head. "That...that was wrong."
Faith felt something cold enter her heart, but she shrugged it off. "Yeah. Okay. I mean, I understand if girls aren't your thing,"
"Oh, no!" Willow's unhesitating denial brought Faith?s head immediately up. "I just...it's not that. Exactly." She blushed. "I mean, I never thought that I liked...but, I mean, I'm an open-minded person."
"Then what was wrong?"
Willow nodded in the direction of her passed-out boyfriend. Faith's mouth stretched in a grin. "Ohhh...you don't wanna make out with a girl in front of your boyfriend."
Willow looked flustered. "No! I don't want to cheat on my boyfriend.? Her voice went low, sincere. "I care about him."
A pang rushed through Faith, but she managed to smile. "He's a very lucky guy," she said levelly.
Willow smiled at Faith. "I'm a very lucky girl."
Faith grit her teeth, managing not to spit. This was gonna be a very long stay.
Present: Februrary, 2000
Thinking back on it, Faith grit her teeth again. And it had been a damned long time, sitting around that town, watching the other girl prance around happily with the little furball. But what was worse were the occasional glances Red had sent at her, intentional or not: hot, penetrating looks that only reflected Faith's own desire for the other girl.
But it had actually turned into more than that, as the awkwardness between them disintegrated and they worked together; talked together. Unlike the others in the 'Scooby Gang,' as Willow affectionatly referred to them, the redheaded girl actually listened when Faith had something to say.
She had been a part of something. She'd been someone who helped people, who saved people. Even that little incident with Mrs. Post hadn't broken up the team.
She'd been stupid to believe that bitch; to let the Watcher turn her against the Scoobies, if only temporarily. She could still remember the woman's low voice in her ear. "None of them really know you, Faith. None of them really care. You only have me."
Remembering the look on Willow?s face, "I'm a very lucky girl"-that soft grin, the glowing look in her eyes when she came back from a date with the mutt-she had turned on them. She'd ignored Xander's concern over Giles' fallen body and had gone to kill the vamp, who had actually turned out to be less evil than the Watcher-chick.
They'd forgiven her. Of course they had, especially Willow, the girl with the largest heart in Sunnydale. But still, there had been a certain element of distrust in all of them after that. They were just a little hesitant to hand over the weapons now that they knew Faith's motto was 'Kill now, ask questions later.'
And then, just when things had gotten normal... The news of Xander and Willow's little affair had reached her through the worst possible channel: Buffy. the blond had mentioned it casually during patrol, not even noticing the look on Faith's face and the way she practically massacred the vamps that'd come out that night.
Not even Willow noticed. Not until later.
Early December, 1998
Faith walked casually down the hall, spinning a stake in her left hand. Bored, bored, bored. Unfortunately, there were no vamps tonight, so she was like a walking ball of pent-up energy. If there were any decent clubs in town, she'd have been looking for some guy to misuse, but unfortunately there was only the Bronze. The thought of boffing some high school kid didn't exactly make her quiver with anticipation.
As she turned a corner, she heard a noise. Like...metal slamming against metal, or something. "All right," she muttered beneath her breath, clutching the stake tightly. She took off in a run, in the general direction of the noise. Finally, something to kill.
She stopped short as she came to the source of the noise: Willow. She had opened her locker, and was now pulling things out and throwing them into her bag, looking around nervously.
Faith took a deep breath, then got her bearings and headed towards the other girl, still spinning her stake in her hands. She tried her best to sound casual, noticing how breathy it came out. "Red."
Willow jumped at the sudden noise, but then, noticing who it was, simply went back to emptying her locker. "Faith. Hi. What're you doin' here?"
She shrugged. "I could ask you the same. Little girl, all alone at night...it's not safe." The words were practitcally an impled threat.
Willow heard the dark undertow of the words, but simply bowed her head. "I can take care of myself."
"Yeah, I guess you have to, now that your little wolfy isn't around to protect you."
Ooh...that one hit home. Willow's spine straightened, and she slammed her locker closed and headed for the exit. "Bye Faith."
Faith felt anger flood her bones. Fuck it. There was no way this little girl was gonna just walk out on her. "Hey, stop! Where the hell do you think you're going?"
"Home." Willow's voice was soft, sad.
The brunette softened a little at her tone, then braced herself against feeling any sympathy. She's the one who decided to kiss that other guy. She's the one who 'didn't want to cheat on her boyfriend.' Yeah, didn't want to cheat. But then as soon as her best friend had come along, she'd been all over that idea.
Faith bared her teeth. "No. We're gonna talk, sweetheart."
Annoyed, Willow turned on her heel. "Talk about what, Faith? I don't owe you anything. You and me was a mistake, me and Xander was a mistake-that's all."
The other girl threw her hair back over her shoulder, folding her arms. "That a fact? Cause I didn't exactly hear you offering up any complaints at the time. Not until you remembered your puppy, that is."
"He's not my-" Willow started to protest, then stopped herself. "No. Forget it, Faith." Her face pinkened slightly with her blush. "I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it. And I'm sorry...I know it must seem like I-" She searched for a word, which Faith was more than willing to supply.
"Used me for your experimentation or whatever?"
Once again, Willow blushed, lowering her head. "Yeah. But that wasn't it. I mean, we just...kissed. And it was nice," she assured, "very nice. But then I saw Oz. And with Xander..." Willow bit her lip nervously. "I don't even know what happened there, but I can guarentee to you that I regretted it a lot more than I did that kiss with you."
She turned to leave, but Faith interrupted her again, this time with a soft, almost unsure voice. "Then why'd you kiss him, and keep on kissn' him? Cause I know that time in the factory wasn't the first. Why not me?"
Back still turned, Willow sighed. "I guess...I guess because, I knew it would go too far with you."
She was gone before Faith could decide whether to be flattered or insulted.
TBC...
