Chapter Nineteen
Buffy was putting the class through their paces, her eyes roaming over each girl, spotting their flaws and weak spots instantly. She gently adjusted their arms, tilted their hips to different angles, and nudged their feet into more balanced positions as she walked up and down the rows.
“Good, very good. You guys are showing crazy improvement.”
The energy viscerally picked up in the room, the new students beaming at the praise. Their backs and shoulders straightened, their punches and kicks flew faster because “The Slayer” had judged them and found them worthy. There wasn’t a girl in the room who didn’t feel proud of herself because Buffy Summers was it.
She was a legend, a hero who seemed larger than life, yet still somehow one of them. She laughed, she ate, she did goofy things just like everyone else because she was a real human being with real human concerns. Everyone understood that, but she was also “The Slayer”, the best one who had ever lived.
She had stopped more apocalypses than any other Slayer, and she had risen from the dead at least three times. She had loved and been loved by vampires, and she had rewritten a sacred handbook she had never even seen, a handbook that had subsequently been tossed aside as irrelevant.
She was the oldest of her kind, and she’d been down in the trenches longer than anyone had ever been meant to be. She had bent several times, but she had never broken, and she still stood strong and faced down evil without hesitation.
Every girl who came to the Academy was in awe, yet by the time they left, there was not one who would have hesitated to approach her. She was the Slayer, but she was also “Buffy”, and her kindness, humor, and wisdom drew them to her.
The class was now sailing, the atmosphere nothing but positive and encouraging, and Buffy was all smiles. It was exactly what she needed and she was relishing every minute of it. To her surprise she had discovered she enjoyed training the new recruits, and Giles always had her fill in whenever someone was called away.
That was her: Buffy Summers, substitute teacher. Except no one threw spitballs at her or refused to stop talking when it was time to start class. She had everyone’s respect, and not one student had ever wanted to waste a second, not when The Slayer was standing there ready to teach them something.
This was her last class for the day and Buffy had plans to enjoy the remaining hours of the warm sunlight. Andrew had a packed lunch ready for her and she was going to pick it up on her way to the lake. Her plan was to eat a leisurely and solitary lunch while reading a book and letting the afternoon drift past her. Well technically she was going to read a stack of magazines, but that part wasn’t her fault.
She’d asked Willow if she’d read any good books, and Willow had become almost insanely excited as she’d hurried over to her shelves to pick one out. After many false selections, she’d finally settled on a rather thick one:
“This one starts kinda slow, but stick with it. It gets really interesting!”
Buffy glanced down quickly to make sure there were no words like “physics” in sight, thanked her and left. A closer inspection revealed that the critics were hailing it as, “a modern masterpiece of complexity” and, “a story you’ll read again and again because you won’t be able to understand a single word it’s saying”.
Buffy knew she was inventing blurbs, but she could see from the cover and the other real comments on the back, that the book was way over her head. Willow continued to suffer under the delusion that her best friend was just as brilliant as she herself was, seeming to base that on the one time Buffy had received a better grade on a college paper and been chosen to head up a discussion group.
“Will, that was a grade from crazy, evil Professor Walsh, so…”
“But it happened before she knew you. It was a real grade.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t mean…”
It was like talking to a wall. A Willow wall. A wall of Willow that would not budge, and apparently Buffy still hadn’t learned not to ask her well-intentioned and amazingly stubborn friend for books. Thankfully she had several magazines she’d yet to look through.
She had them stashed in her backpack along with a blanket to sit on and a change of clothes. She was going to spend the afternoon alone, eating, reading, sleeping and not thinking about Faith. She was going to take a much needed break from their upsetting relationship, and she wasn’t going to let herself ponder any aspect of it.
Yep, everything was flowing along smoothly just like it was supposed to, and then just like that, everything changed.
The door swung open and even though she entered the room quietly, everything about the other original Slayer called attention to her. She was all cockiness and confidence, dressed in loose workout clothes that still somehow managed to cling to her many curves as she sauntered across the room.
“Hiya, B. Not late, am I?”
“…For what?”
The class slowed their workout, all eyes on the two women who although they were just talking, seemed to be squaring off for some sort of battle. No one was too sure what lay between them, but the rumor was that they had once been lovers and had parted due to some mysterious falling out that nobody had the lowdown on.
“Crossbow and knife lessons. “
She turned to face the class:
“How you guys doin’? Big day today, gonna show ya how to take down Bambi and then gut his sissy little ass.”
The class laughed. Faith was not well known personally, she’d only been around for a few weeks, but she always seemed casual and relaxed, and very friendly. Still, no one wanted to get on her bad side, there was something a little scary about her. It was as if they could sense the danger simmering right below the surface.
Everyone knew who and what she was: the Slayer who had lost her way and then somehow found it again. They knew she’d fought on the side of evil and they knew she’d murdered someone and gone to jail for it. But that back story seemed completely incongruous with the woman who strolled around the grounds laughing and joking with any and everyone.
Well, maybe not with everyone. There always seemed to be a great deal of tension between the two original Slayers, and Buffy’s somewhat haughty tone at the moment made that even clearer:
“I wasn’t informed you’d be here, so…”
“Well shit happens, and here I am. Okay, everybody get in two lines.”
The students moved to comply until Buffy’s voice rang out:
“Stay right where you are.”
She spun Faith around and almost lost control of her temper when she saw the familiar smirk.
“This is my class, and you can’t just come in here and take over.”
“Not a pissin’ contest, B. Just doing what I’m told.”
“Fine. And now I’m telling you to get the hell out of here.”
Faith’s smirk deepened:
“Sorry, but I’m gonna stick around.”
Buffy moved closer:
“I said, ‘Leave’.”
Faith took the last distance between them with a step:
“And I said, ‘No’.”
A smile appeared on Buffy’s face, but her eyes were like ice, cold and promising pain dead ahead. She spoke without looking away from Faith:
“Class dismissed.”
“Yeah guys, looks like Ms. Summers has a wicked case of PMS.”
No one laughed outright, although there were quite a few muffled snickers. Buffy’s body tensed, the struggle plain on her face as she fought to stay in control.
“I had a great week, but Rona will be back on Monday. Make sure you guys work on your kicks over the weekend.”
“Yeah, can’t beat gettin’ your kicks.”
The class left reluctantly, but they had no other choice. After the last girl had disappeared, Buffy snatched up her towel from a nearby bench and headed over to the refrigerator. She reached in for a bottle of water, and when she straightened up and closed the door, she found Faith mere inches behind her.
“All hot and bothered, B?”
Buffy tried to turn and face her, but there wasn’t enough room.
“Move back.”
“Why?”
“Faith, I’m counting to three and then I’m going to move you.”
“Ooh…scary, Slayer. Got me pissin’ my pants for sure.”
Faith moved closer, their bodies touching, her breath whispering along Buffy’s neck:
“C’mon B, really gonna pretend last night didn’t happen?”
“One…”
“What about all the nights before?”
“Two…”
Faith spun her around until they were face to face, her hands gripping Buffy’s shoulders:
“’Cause I don’t wanna pretend, B. I just wanna do it again.”
“Thr…”
Faith’s lips crashed down onto Buffy’s, her arms pulling their bodies together. Buffy struggled, but she was wrapped up tight and unable to move away. An insistent tongue sought entrance, and with a moan from deep in her throat, Buffy relented.
Her lips opened and her own tongue began dancing lightly with Faith’s. The iron grip loosened and Buffy dropped the water bottle, entwining her suddenly free hands in thick brown hair as she pulled Faith even closer.
“Jesus, B…I want you so bad.”
Buffy twisted and squirmed until she’d maneuvered Faith into position. She kissed her, then slammed her hard against the refrigerator. Faith grunt was one of pain, but neither of them slowed a bit.
“How bad do you want me? Tell me…”
“Bad enough to take you right here.”
Buffy nipped her ear and slid her mouth downward, leaving mark after mark behind as she traveled along the vulnerable column of Faith’s neck. Her leg came up between Faith’s, hard enough to actually lift her slightly into the air, and the groan thrust out of Faith sounded almost tortured.
She stood there, desperately riding along as Buffy’s leg began moving slowly back and forth, up and down. Her hot, wet lips were back at Faith’s ear, whispering in-between the delicate flicks of her tongue:
“Mmm, F…I probably…shouldn’t….”
Her words stopped for a moment as her leg sped up.
“…but don’t you wish I would?”
A low, sexy laugh sent a shiver through her, and then Buffy was walking away without so much as a look back. She made it three steps before Faith grabbed her hard enough to cut short her escape.
“Told ya the next time you tried that, we weren’t stopping ‘til we were both done.”
“I also told you I’d break your arm.”
“No you won’t.”
Faith’s arms encircled Buffy from behind, pinning her arms quite effectively against her body. She began placing tiny kisses along her neck and shoulder, her hands sliding lower the instant Buffy moaned.
She stayed on the outside of Buffy’s workout pants, but she found the spot she was searching for without a problem.
“Faith…stop now.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“The door is…open.”
Faith grinned against her throat:
“Wonder if somebody’s gonna catch us.”
“That’s not…That’s not funny.”
“Wasn’t supposed to be.”
She increased the pressure and in seconds Buffy was moving with her and sighing the little “Buffy” sighs Faith so loved to hear.
“Could take you right now, right in front of the whole damn school.”
Buffy was having trouble speaking. Her head flung back onto Faith’s shoulder and her hips began moving right in tune with the rhythm Faith had going.
“But you’re right…Door’s open, so we’ll stop.”
Buffy staggered and almost fell as Faith let go of her and walked over to the door. She pushed it closed and just managed to engage the lock before Buffy slammed her face first into it.
“OW! All worked up about somethin’, B?”
Buffy spun her around and kissed her hard. She left no space between them as she hauled her closer, wrapping her arms around her tightly. When she finally pulled away from Faith’s more than willing mouth, she said only two words:
“Fuck me.”
Faith hesitated, but Buffy was all done with waiting. She hooked her leg around Faith’s and shoved her down hard onto the mats.
“Fine, then I’ll fuck you.”
“B, maybe we should…”
“Oh yeah, we absolutely should, F.”
***********************************************************
It had gone on for three months now with no sign of changing. No matter what Faith tried to do, Buffy would only allow them to do two things together: slay and fuck. That’s what she called it and that’s what she tried to keep it at.
For her part, Faith refused to “fuck” Buffy, even when it was rough and quick. The love she felt was obvious and poured out of her with every touch, and Faith’s refusal to play the game the way Buffy wanted it played never failed to piss her off. She would do whatever she could to get back in control, and most times Faith would finally surrender and let her have her way.
She tried to be patient and let Buffy work out her anger, but as the days went by, there didn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel. Clearly her current approach wasn’t the right one and Faith knew she had to try something else. It took her awhile, but she finally came up with a great idea.
The problem was she needed help, and that was how she found herself knocking on Willow and Kennedy’s door.
“Come in!”
She entered to find Willow sitting on the couch, papers strewn all over the coffee table.
“Hi.”
“Hey, Red. You…uh…You got a sec?”
“Sure,I’ve got several, why?”
“Where’s Silver Spoon?”
“She’s at the mall with some of the newbies.”
“Good, ‘cause I need to talk to you.”
Willow put down the ancient text she was busy not deciphering and gave Faith her full attention.
“I’d ask ‘about what’, but I’m pretty sure I already know.”
“Yeah, it’s about B. Thing is, I um…Has B said anything?”
“Yep, she says all kinds of stuff.”
“I mean, you know, about…”
“About sleeping with you? Her, I mean, not me with you…Or with her! Me, I mean. Not that both of you aren’t attractive and way…Yes, I know.”
Faith’s relief was palpable. She sat down in the chair across from Willow, her boot clad feet instantly resting on the one section of the tabletop that was paper free.
“Good, ‘cause it was gonna be a bitch to try and keep that a secret during this.”
“Nope, no secret keeping required. So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Okay, so you know how pissed B is with me?”
Willow’s face flushed as her anger came to the surface.
“I’d say she’s more than just ‘pissed’ and I think she’s got a right to…”
“Whoa, Tiger, don’t go all black-eyed, okay? I know what I did was wrong, really wrong, and I’m not lookin’ for sympathy or trying to blame B for anything. It’s all me, not trying to pretend otherwise.”
Willow still looked irate.
“What you did, Faith? It’s the worst thing anybody’s ever done to her.”
“I know that, but I want her back and I’m gonna get her.”
“And what about what she wants?”
Faith laughed:
“C’mon, you know it just like I do. B wants me back too, she just doesn’t wanna cop to it.”
“Well it’s good to see your ego didn’t shrink during your extended absence.”
“Not a matter of ego, Red, it’s a matter of fact. B and me, we love each other, and nothing anybody can ever do’s gonna change that. I wanna make it up to her, and no matter what she needs me to do, I’m gonna do it. She asks me to eat broken glass, gonna choke it down. B comes first here…so to speak.”
The heartfelt, “Faith-style” romantic words, coupled with the inappropriate innuendo, made Willow smile and shake her head.
“I don’t know how you do it, but it’s pretty much impossible to stay mad at you.”
“Just ask B to give ya lessons. Okay, here’s the deal…”
She sat up, her boots on the floor, her face sad and serious.
“…the sex isn’t the problem, ‘cept it’s all she’ll let us do. She won’t let us talk about anything, let alone the fucked up thing I did. She won’t let us be together in any other way, won’t even budge an inch towards us doing something normal together. If our pussies or a stake ain’t involved, B doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“She’s hurt, Faith, and I know for a fact she doesn’t trust you. She’s furious that she still wants you, and she’s trying to convince herself that the sex doesn’t really mean all that much.”
“Well it does. She fucks me and I make love to her, and both of those things mean everything anybody can think of. Look, I’m not here to bitch about B. She wants to keep treating me like a piece of shit, she’s earned that. Me? I wanna treat her the way she deserves. I got a plan to do something nice, something I know she’ll like, but I need your help.”
Willow looked panicked and shot to her feet:
“No way! You said this was a “talk” we were having, you didn’t say anything about taking your side!”
“Jesus Red, take it easy. Not asking you to take my side, honest. I just need your help to…”
“No! The only one here who gets my help is B…uffy.”
Faith smiled as she stood up:
“And that’s like it oughta be…uffy. Willow, I’m not going to hurt her. I learned my lesson, course the downside is I made everybody else learn it too. But I swear to you, I’m never leaving B again. I just wanna make her happy, just wanna show her I’m the one who can still do that.”
“And that all sounds good, in fact it sounds wonderful. But I am not going to help you.”
“Okay, tell ya what: let’s sit back down, I’ll clue ya in on what I have in mind, and then you see how you feel about doin’ it. Ya don’t feel right about it, we forget the whole deal and there’s no hard feelings.”
Willow looked uncertain, but she let Faith lead her gently back to the couch:
“Know you love B almost as much as I do. I promise, Willow, not gonna try and make you do somethin’ that’ll fuck things up between you.”
Willow still looked worried, but she just blew out a big sigh and nodded:
“I know I’m going to regret this, but okay. Tell me what you have in mind.”
Faith’s smile was so happy, Willow couldn’t help but smile back. She’d have to try and remember this warm bonding moment when Buffy was busy killing her.
“Okay, so here’s what I was thinking…”
It took her about five minutes to lay it all out, and Willow had to agree, Buffy would love it. There was only a fifty/fifty chance that it would make her relent even a little bit, but there was absolutely no doubt about her loving it…at least she would somewhere deep down inside.
Faith had the plan all figured out, but Willow’s role in it was a lot more crucial than she would have liked.
“I don’t know, Faith. I mean, I’ll be right in the middle of it.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I think we should suck Ken and Xand into it too. She can’t kill everybody, right? She might get a little pissy with you, but I figure her big ass kicking ‘Buffy’ rage will swing right back to me. It’s a win-win deal.”
“How is Buffy in an ‘ass kicking rage’ a win-win? You’re trying to make her less angry with you.”
Faith laughed:
“Yeah, okay, so maybe it’s not exactly got a smooth ending, but I gotta take what I can get. ‘Sides, I get to know that for at least a coupla hours I’m gonna make her happy, even if she won’t admit it. And hey, might even get to see a real smile from her…That’ll make any beating seem worth it.”
If anyone else had said something like that, Willow would have found it nothing but stupid, maybe even a little corny. But she knew Faith meant it, and there was something so endearing about her willingness to get herself killed just for the chance to see a real smile.
“All right, I’m in. When did you want to do this?”
“’Bout three years ago, but I’m gonna settle for Thursday. Gives you guys time to set things in motion and for me to nail’em down. That work for you?”
“Yes, that works for me. Do you need any help with the…”
“Oh man, do I fuckin’ ever. Think maybe tomorrow we could…”
“Sure. In for a penny, in for a pound.”
Faith was already on her feet, a puzzled look on her face:
“What’s that mean?”
Willow stood up too:
“It means since I’m already in it up to my neck, I might as well go ahead and dunk my head under.”
“Sounds about right. Thank you, Willow.”
Willow grinned and hugged her:
“Just try not to get killed, even if she does smile at you.”
