Vacancy
Disclaimer: I own nothing, ‘cept for any OC’s I may create. Props and kudos go to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and the cast and crew of BtVS.
Timeline: Four years post-Chosen. Faith's been off being a Champion for the Powers, what happens when she returns back without notice to Buffy and the Scooby Gang?
Also: to set this up a bit, I read Go Ask Malice before beginning this fic, and have come up with Faith’s age according to that book (I am also basing her history on the book). The timeframe for this story begins sometime in September 2007.
Flashbacks, as well as thoughts, will be in Italics.
CLICK HERE TO SEE FLOOR PLANS
Chapter 1: Rest Stop
The dusty windows of the roadside restaurant provided little more than a smudged view of the empty road that passed by it. The owner, a man by the name of Frank, had been watching people drive by his restaurant for more than 30 years. He could pick out who would stop for a rest, from half a mile away. He could tell you stories for weeks about the types of people and vehicles that had come in and out of this restaurant.
Today was a slow day for Frank and his fellow workers. A family of seven had grumbled in around nine in the morning, and aside from a couple of people stopping for the rest room or coffee, nothing interesting had happened. Frank was cutting the grill, preparing to shut it down to keep the heat in the already sweltering restaurant down until it was needed when Lydia, the waitress from behind the counter, called for him to come to the front.
“What’s up girl?” Frank asked as he wiped his hands off on his apron.
Lydia nodded towards the windows, “Motorcycle, Northbound. You think it’s a Suzuki?”
Frank moved next to Lydia, squinting at the image of a motorcycle coming upon them rapidly, “Naw. Ducati, 2003-ish probably. They’ll stop.”
“Are we betting on this?” Lydia quirked her eyebrow at her longtime boss, a hint of a smile playing at the edges of her lips.
“Do you want to?” Frank smirked back before flicking his gaze to the window again, “See? They’re stopping.”
Lydia turned to look back out the window as the motorcycle pulled in and slowed to a stop next to the door, “Damn.”
“Paul, turn on the grill,” Frank called out, hearing a soft ‘shit’ out back before Paul scrambled inside the restaurant.
All three turned towards the sound of the jingle above the door as it opened. A tall woman in a dark denim jacket and dark blue jeans walked in, unbuttoning her jacket to reveal a red shirt beneath. Dark brown banana curls fell upon her shoulders, framing her face- softening it- in a slight innocence. Her eyes aged her beyond her youthful looks, as if she had been through more in five years than most people saw in their lifetime, and to anyone who knew her, this was true.
The woman sauntered slowly up to the counter and took a seat on the stool, eyeing the people watching her.
“Coffee please, black.” The woman’s voice was thick, with a gravelly scratch to it that could be seen as either sexy, or just someone who smokes too much.
“Comin’ right up ma’am.” Lydia turned quickly, glad to have something to do.
Frank leaned on the doorframe that led to the grill and kitchen, his eyes locking on the woman sitting at his counter, “You from around here ma’am?”
“No, just passing through. Actually, do you have a map or anything I might be able to look at?” Came the gravelly drawl as she cocked her head to one side, allowing a smile to flash across her face for a brief moment.
Frank shook his head, “’Fraid not ma’am, the only map around is up here,” Frank tapped his head, smirking slightly.
“Well then, do you know how I could get to Ohio from here?” the woman asked before thanking Lydia for the coffee.
“Ah, Ohio,” Frank leaned back slightly, scratching his stubbly chin, “Well, continue on North, this is the main highway that’ll take you up there. Plenty of road signs and exits as you go up further. As long as you follow the main routes up through Kentucky, you’ll be fine.”
“Thanks,” the woman nodded, sipping her coffee.
“Mind if I ask ya a question?” Frank cocked his head to one side, his tone serious.
“Shoot,” the woman replied.
“If ya are just passing through, why you all the way down here, trying to get up to Ohio?”
The woman was silent for a moment, her gaze ticked to a menu long since faded on the wall. Turning her deep brown eyes back on Frank, a flash of tiredness skipped through them- a flash that was not lost upon Frank.
“Well, I know people up there. Haven’t seen them in quite a few years, planning on dropping in and seeing what happens,” the woman smirked again before finishing her coffee and standing.
Frank watched as she pulled a few bills out of her pocket before saying, “On the house ma’am. You’ve got a long way to go before you’re home.”
The woman leveled her gaze at him for a moment, and Lydia could see something pass between them before the woman nodded in thanks and turned to leave.
“Frank…”
“That woman has seen things I can’t even imagine, and I’ve seen things I wish I hadn’t in ‘Nam. Whatever she’s going back to, she’ll need all the kindness she can get.” Frank cut off any comment from Lydia before finally turning back into the kitchen, muttering at Paul, “Turn the damn grill off you goof, she didn’t want food, why’d you leave it on?”
Lydia shook her head at her boss, all the while her gaze watching the brunette pull her black helmet on and kick start her motorcycle before driving out, leaving a dust trail behind her.
Chapter 2: Thinking Back
Faith could feel her now. In fact, she’d been able to feel her for the last hour. Now, as she ground out a cigarette beneath her boot heel at some local restaurant just inside Cleveland, Ohio, Faith began to get the itch to turn around and drive away before it was too late.
Too late to get out before she did something like last time…and that doesn’t include killing people or turning evil.
Faith and Buffy were sparring, not unusual for them, especially since the last couple of months. Since the official close of the Hellmouth, vamp and demon activity had slowed quite a bit, and the move to Cleveland hadn’t given them any more kills per night than usual. Apparently this Hellmouth wasn’t even close to as bad as the one in Sunnydale. No wonder shit was happening there all the time. Back to the point- vamp activity was down, so sparring activity was up.
Willow had told Faith once that watching the two of them spar was like watching water and fire together. Faith originally found it as a cure to the itch of the hungry and hornies, but recently, sparring with the blonde had only been making them worse. Today was no better. With the amount of time they spent together, they learned each others’ moves backwards and forwards and didn’t hold back. It seemed that every day they just got closer- physically- while sparring.
Buffy threw a flurry of punches at Faith, who blocked them quickly before sweeping her leg out, causing the blonde to jump over and land an elbow to her back. Faith stumbled forward before kicking out behind herself, and upon feeling Buffy’s hands grasp her foot, used her momentum to spin around into the air to kick Buffy in her side. Buffy released Faith’s foot with a grunt, and moved away from Faith.
Faith waited. It seemed that was all she did for anything in relation to her sister slayer. Though now was not the time to dwell on it. Faith focused back on the present situation in time to stop Buffy’s roundhouse kick, but not to stop the second spin Buffy made, initiating the loss of Faith’s balance. Faith felt herself falling and grabbed Buffy as she fell so that they would be on even ground. Too bad her brain didn’t think far enough ahead to realize that the smaller slayer would land right on top of her.
One word was running through Faith’s head at that moment, “shit.” This was not good in a really bad way. Post- Sunnydale, Faith had gotten closer to Buffy. She would even consider them friends. They had begun anew, on even ground, and they clicked far better now that they ever did back when Faith was unstable- but as friends only. Recently though, Faith had begun to feel differently. She didn’t know how to explain it, maybe it was just “stronger feelings” for the shorter slayer that bypassed “caring for a friend” far too easily. So, at this moment, the fuzzy feelings Faith had been getting around Buffy were on full alert due to the full physical contact, but that wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was the strong second half of the H&H’s pulsing through her at that moment.
It was around the tenth long second that Buffy had lain atop Faith without moving that the dark slayer quirked an eyebrow up at her and smirked slightly- in true Faith fashion of course.
“B, you gonna get offa me, or you enjoying the relocation?” Faith teased, enjoying the blush that swept across the smaller slayer’s face before she began to climb off her. Faith, not ready to end the teasing- certainly not because she wanted more contact- grabbed the blonde’s wrist and pulled her back down.
Buffy landed hard, her left hand reaching out to brace her fall next to Faith’s head, and her legs falling to either side of the dark slayer’s legs. Buffy’s face fell within inches of Faith’s, and suddenly Faith didn’t think it was a good idea anymore to tease. Buffy was now all she could smell, breathe and feel. A soft groan rumbled in her throat at just how perfectly Buffy’s hips had landed and her eyes dropped to the blonde’s. Both slayers would later call it a moment of weakness – caught up in the flow of the fight – at least to each other, but Faith knew what she felt the moment Buffy dropped her head those last few inches and allowed her lips to brush against Faith’s. She was terrified, in a thrilled sort of way, but still terrified.
The sound of footsteps quickly halted any progress into the kiss, and both women sprang apart and into standing positions just moments before Kennedy entered the training room. Faith was kicking herself too much to focus on Kennedy, and trusted Buffy to handle the situation as she wandered off toward the showers.
She could feel the blonde’s eyes on her back the whole way. What that meant, would come in time.
Faith threw a leg over her Ducati, revving the engine slightly before taking off. She knew Buffy could feel her, how that worked out, Faith could never figure out, probably something to do with the whole “no two Slayers at once” rule, which was now broken a thousand times over, but that was beside the point. The point was, Buffy could feel her as well, and she would know she was coming. Faith just hoped it wouldn’t be a cold welcome.
Chapter 3: Familiar Faces
For the fifth time, Faith pulled the torn and crumpled slip of paper from her back pocket. It was only a few lines of print in Angel’s neat handwriting, but the lack of words belied their importance. They told her she was standing at the mailbox of the correct driveway in all of Cleveland. The fact that it was a rather long and winding driveway slightly deterred Faith from restarting her bike and driving down it, since everyone would undoubtedly hear her approach. It’s been four years, and I didn’t actually leave on bad terms with anyone, although B might look at that differently. But hey, there’s a miniscule chance you won’t be punched in the face. Faith shook her head of her thoughts before kick starting her bike. Driving it slowly down the driveway, Faith noted how perfectly the Scooby Gang had picked this place.
Damn, four years ago this was merely an idea. Faith slowed to a halt as she pulled up next to a maroon Acura, the only car outside the rather large garage. Killing the engine, Faith dismounted and pulled her helmet off, shaking her long locks of hair out around her shoulders. Detaching the belts holding her duffel bag to her Ducati, Faith slung it over one shoulder and strode towards the door. Just as she reached out to press the doorbell, the door swung open, revealing the younger of the two Summers girls.
“Faith, it’s great to see you,” Dawn’s initial surprise gave way to a soft smile before pulling the door open further in a silent invitation.
“Hey Brat, look at you, all grown up,” Faith smirked before moving in past her and dropping her bag to the floor.
“A lot can happen in four years,” The tone was tinged with sadness, possibly even anger, but Faith recognized Xander’s voice from the next room easily.
“Hey Xand, how’s it hanging?” Faith smiled up at him before he moved forward and embraced her gently.
Faith felt a quick moment of panic, but relaxed into the hug, glad that he wasn’t resentful of her abrupt exit last time. As he pulled away, Faith felt an arm slide around her shoulders, pulling her close. Faith turned her head to see a grinning Kennedy looking up at her.
“Hey you,” Kennedy tilted her head to one side before pulling her into a hug. Wow, I get hugs this time, big improvement.
Pulling out of the hug, Faith allowed her gaze to move around what was apparently the living room, and quickly scanned the faces of a few of the original potentials, and a few faces she didn’t recognize. A voice off to her left caused her to turn and quirk an eyebrow, as was custom.
“Welcome back,” Willow smiled over at her from where she was leaning on the doorframe which led to some other room, “I could feel a Slayer approaching, but I wasn’t sure if it was you.”
“Where’s everyone else?” Faith glanced around quickly before focusing back on Willow, who appeared to be in charge.
Willow shifted her gaze to some of the younger girls in the room, “Why don’t you all go on up and get ready for bed? I’ll give everyone proper introductions tomorrow.”
Faith watched as a small crowd of girls left the room, causing it to become almost vacant, save for the only people she knew. Kennedy moved over towards where Willow stood and Dawn took a seat next to Xander on the couch just as Andrew wandered into the room with a cup of tea in his hand. Faith smirked at him; he apparently hadn’t changed at all. Vi and Rona were both standing across the room, enjoying the jump Andrew made at seeing the rogue slayer.
“Wow, same old crew, huh?” Faith ran a hand absently through her hair before looking back at Willow.
“A lot of stuff has gone on since you left, Faith, and while I really want to get into details with you right now, I’ll give you a rundown because I know exactly what you want to do,” Everyone’s gazes shifted questioningly to Willow, but Faith merely smiled. Hell’s yeah. Speak later, let me find her now.
“What’s the sitch Red?” Faith asked point blank, tilting her head to one side, “Big A didn’t really clue me in too well when he contacted me.”
“There’s been something building in the last few months, we’re not exactly sure what,” Willow held up a hand to silence the questions Faith was about to ask, “It’s not the First, but it does want to destroy the world.”
“Gee, how original,” Faith remarked, rolling her eyes, gaining a glare from Willow and soft laughter from Kennedy, who was silenced by Willow turning to look at her.
“Anyway, with most of the trained Slayers spread out around the world, we needed all the firepower we could get, and I heard from Angel a few days ago that he was sending someone to help, but he didn’t say who. Most of us didn’t even think it would be you after your abrupt exit.”
“Yeah, sorry about the whole AWOL bit,” Faith shrugged, she really didn’t want to get into that right now, not when she was itching to slay, or find Buffy, whichever came first.
“Will, why don’t you let her go, she can get the details tomorrow,” Dawn watched Faith shift from foot to foot before turning to look at the redhead.
Willow nodded slightly, “Go ahead, Buffy’s doing a sweep of the cemeteries within a five mile radius tonight, I’m sure you’ll be able to find her,” Willow allowed a knowing smile to grace her face before nodding towards the door, “We can talk tomorrow.”
“Fine by me, I’ll catch you all later, tons of promises to catch up,” Faith allowed her gaze to settle on Kennedy, whom she had bonded with surprisingly well after destroying Sunnydale. The younger slayer nodded quickly in acknowledgement before watching Faith exit the room and then the house swiftly.
Faith pulled the door shut and let out a sigh. That went well, I think. Pulling her helmet back on, Faith started up her bike before turning around and driving off, allowing the tingling sensations running down her spine to guide her.
Chapter 4: Syncronized Slayers?
Two miles out, Faith pulled into a cemetery and parked her bike just inside the fence, allowing it to be hidden from any car that drove by. Taking off her helmet, Faith took in a deep breath before checking that her stake was securely attached to the holster at the bottom of her leg. She knew that Buffy probably was in this cemetery, but it was quite big, so she figured that her parking at the gate didn’t clue the blonde in to her arrival. ‘Cept for that feeling I’m getting, saying she’s relatively nearby. Hope it doesn’t distract her.
Faith strode forward, her destination unclear, merely awaiting the sounds of fighting, or the sight of a particular blonde. Some time later, Faith knew she must have covered almost half the cemetery by this point, she heard the tell tale signs of vampires. The snarling was coming from a little ways off, more towards the edge of the cemetery, near the woods. As she rounded a mausoleum, Faith saw the original Chosen One battling alone against eight vampires, not a particular fair match. Buffy was fending off four with ease, but the others were using her split concentration to slowly make their way closer to her.
Within seconds, Buffy had one dusted, and Faith moved up behind two and dusted them from behind before the rest realized they now had more than just one girl to worry about. Faith watched as Buffy threw one into a headstone before punching another vamp in the face, causing him to stumble backwards. She then let out a flurry of punches before sweeping his legs out from underneath himself, and dusting him.
Faith took on two vamps at once, a male and a female. Slamming her elbow into the male’s face, Faith did a roundhouse kick on the female, sending her sprawling over a headstone. The male landed a hard kick into her side, and Faith grunted as she felt the pain shoot through her. She faintly heard the sound of a vamp being dusted, before the male pulled her into a headlock. Faith could feel her lungs screaming already, and propelled herself back into a taller gravestone, causing the male vamp to release her. Swiveling quickly, Faith plunged the stake into his heart before turning towards the forgotten female vamp as he dusted.
Faith kept a watchful eye on Buffy as she stumbled backwards from the punch to her jaw, and tried not to wince at the kick to her gut before shifting to her right and allowing the vampire’s momentum to sending him flying. Moving forward towards him, Buffy did a high kick to his chin which caused him to slam into the other remaining vamp, which Faith had solidly kicked in the chest, sending her back into Buffy’s vamp. It wasn’t done on purpose, but Faith timed the plunge to the female’s heart to match Buffy’s, and the vamps dusted simultaneously, allowing dark brown eyes to look at green ones for the first time in four years.
Faith watched Buffy straighten up slightly, looking less surprised than glad, “Faith,”
“B,” Faith smirked at her sister slayer.
“Glad you could drop by,” Buffy glanced around, breaking the gaze Faith had leveled on her.
“Yeah, you know, I just happened to see this blonde chick about to become dinner, and thought, hey, maybe I should help her out,” Faith grinned as Buffy began walking back towards the front of the cemetery, and fell in step beside her.
“You kidding me? I was totally in control of the situation back there,” Faith cast a sidelong glance at Buffy, and laughed at the grin on her face, belying her serious tone.
It can’t be this easy, I know it can’t be. Faith didn’t want to get her hopes up, even if all the other Scoobies were okay with her being back, she knew Buffy must still be upset, hell she had good reason to be. The pair lapsed into silence for a few minutes before Buffy spoke, this time completely serious.
“Four years Faith.” Here we go.
“I know.”
“No explanation, no note, no word.”
“I know.”
“What the fuck happened?”
Faith stopped to look at Buffy full on, guess I gotta be honest with her sometime, and if I ever want to even entertain the thought of being friends, the sooner I’m straight with her, the better. Just gotta take the plunge.
Faith shifted nervously, trying to find the right words. As the silence stretched on, Buffy prodded Faith with one more guilt trip, “We were becoming good friends; I thought we’d finally gotten past everything-”
Faith cut her off, not wanting the older woman to go on, needing to explain, “B, listen. I didn’t leave because of you, or our friendship,” Or its’ recent complexities, Faith added in her mind, “I left because I needed to know that I could still be a white hat without anyone watching me. I needed to find out whether I could slip and fall, and realize it without anyone pointing it out. So I went to Angel,” Faith stopped upon seeing the look Buffy gave her, and returned it with one of her own, “He looked out for me B, he was the only one who believed in me. Plus he had his whole redemption thing going on, so he knew what I needed. I asked if I could pay a visit to the Powers. I wanted to help people on my terms, my way, knowing I could, even on my own, help people.”
Faith took a breath and pulled a cigarette out of her jacket pocket and a lighter from her jeans. After lighting it and taking a long drag, Faith exhaled slowly before taking a seat on the top of a headstone. Damn this is hard, I wish I could explain this shit better; at least I have her full attention. Faith looked over at the silent blonde who was currently leaning against a tall grave marker. Faith was glad that Buffy wasn’t prodding her with questions, she wasn’t sure she could take them at that exact moment. The minutes crawled by as Faith slowly finished her cigarette, and put it out on the top of the headstone before flicking it away.
“Anyway, so I helped out where I could, did whatever I could. I mean, yeah, I was keeping tabs on you guys, though it wasn’t easy to keep track of where you all were, but I was aware of a serious slayer link moving around the world. I would check in with Angel periodically, but I didn’t really want to know what was happening with you guys. I knew he’d tell me if something bad happened, or some shit like that, so I didn’t really worry. Then Angel contacted me about you guys maybe needing me here. Not long after, I find myself at the front door of a massive mansion with a not so little or young Dawn standing in front of me.”
Faith allowed another stretch of silence to fall between them, and turned her gaze towards the woods, staring out blankly.
Buffy’s quiet comment tore her back to the present, and refocused her guilt yet again,“I thought you were happy,” the pain was evident in her voice and Faith knitted her eyebrows together in concern, “I mean, weren’t things just beginning to click between us?”
Faith sighed again, closing her eyes momentarily, “Yeah B. Things were good, I was happy,” Faith opened her eyes to stare at her counterpart, “But I hadn’t been able to fully let go of the past yet, and it would’ve caught up with me, and all hell would’ve broken loose. I didn’t want to risk our friendship, which, just to remind you, was built on past betrayals and attempted murders.”
Buffy winced at the reminder of when they were younger, and the pain that they had caused each other, but let Faith continue.
“So I left,” Faith ended the subject with a shrug, before continuing on in another direction, “Now I’m back, and what I really would like to know, is whether we’re gonna be okay, because I’ll leave if you don’t want me here.”
Buffy reply was soft, and caused Faith to strain to here it, “Don’t leave. Not again.”
Faith nodded mutely, her emotions vying for control at Buffy’s response, not sure which way to take it, as a comrade, a slayer, a friend, or a… a what? We were never together. Sure, three kisses, two of which she initiated, but still. Nothing was ever written in stone. Let’s not jump on that train of thought too quickly. Finding her voice, Faith smiled softly as she spoke, “Glad to hear it, because I really need to spar, gotta get my Buffy butt-whooping skills back up to par.”
Buffy looked up quickly at Faith upon hearing the word “spar,” knowing the history that came with it, and smirked, “I’ll kick your ass.”
“Yeah, let’s just see you try girlfriend,” Faith winked and then stood and began to walk again, Buffy moving next to her.
“Man, you are so going down,” Buffy’s eyes widened the moment the words left her mouth, and a blush crept up her neck, spreading across her face as she eyed Faith, gauging her reaction.
Faith turned to look at the shorter slayer full on, and gave her a seductive once over. Licking her lips, the dark slayer commented, “Mmmm, don’t go putting ideas in my head B, something might happen.” God I hope so.
Buffy smirked back at Faith, and arched her eyebrow, “That might just be my master plan.”
Faith’s eyes widened slightly, holy fuck, she’s gonna get me horny without even being serious. As if on cue, Faith felt the beginnings of the hungry and hornies and cast a sidelong glance at Buffy once they resumed walking. Faith knew Buffy thought she had won, and as they approached the gate, Faith pulled her bike out of the shadows. Throwing a leg over it and sitting, Faith smirked at Buffy and, in a breathy tone, asked, “You hungry?”
Buffy’s look was shocking. Faith had seen firsthand many times over that Buffy did indeed get hungry and horny, she just ignored it better, but the smoldering once over that Buffy gave her made Faith uncertain whether Buffy was taking her question seriously or if she was just playing along, like they always used to do.
“Starved,” Buffy’s response sent a shiver down Faith’s spine. God damn, how does she do that? Faith blinked, slightly taken aback, and felt relief wash over her as Buffy began to laugh before she sat down behind the dark slayer on the Ducati. Oh this should be interesting, Faith thought sardonically while pulling her helmet on. As Buffy snaked her arms around her waist, a soft sigh lodged itself in her throat, shifting into a groan at the feel of the smaller slayer pressed up behind her, causing Buffy to smirk. So much for controlling your emotions.
“Little hot under the collar Faith?” Buffy remarked with a grin, her breath tickling Faith’s neck.
If you only knew, B, “Naw, B, just clearing my throat,” Faith knew Buffy wasn’t fooled, and quickly started her bike to silence the blonde from any future comments. Just gotta get back –preferably in one piece- and take a very long, cold shower.
Chapter 5: Reminiscing About Pool
Faith takes the two beers from the bartender after chucking some bills onto the counter and walks back to where Buffy is seated in a booth in the bar. Yeah, so much for going straight back. Faith places a bottle in front of Buffy and slides into the seat across from her, lifting the bottle to her lips almost instantly. Swallowing the dark beer, Faith catches Buffy watching her drink. Lowering the bottle to the tabletop, Faith watches in amusement as Buffy snaps out of her reverie and quickly looks away, focusing on the pool game in session nearby.
Faith turns to follow her gaze, and watches one of the men prepare to break. His arm flexes slightly as he pulls the stick back and hits the cue ball hard, knocking it into the side of the triangle of balls. The crack of the break causes Faith’s mind to wander back into the past, to the last time she played pool against the smaller slayer:
Faith was itching to do some damage. She and Buffy had gone out slaying, only dusting a few vampires, and had come back to the small house, hoping to eat the need away. Three pizzas and four beers later, Buffy had chucked a pool stick at Faith, and the game had begun.
They hadn’t really brought up the first kiss. Faith had wanted Buffy to admit that it had happened, hell, have her admit anything really, even if all she admitted was that she wore socks to bed. Unfortunately, Buffy had done nothing- Faith figured it was out of fear- and in turn, Faith’s nerves were wearing thin. After that kiss, despite the innocence in it, Faith had stopped trying to cure her sexual itch through others after slaying, hoping for more from the older slayer.
Xander had asked her the other day why she was always jittery. She had laughed and explained that she’d had too much coffee that day, hoping he didn’t see through the lie. Now, watching Buffy stalk her prey – a striped ball – Faith allowed her eyes to roam over her delicate looking frame, her leg twitching to an unknown beat.
The shot was made, and the ball tapped around the pocket, settling on the edge but not falling in.
“Fuck me,” Buffy cursed, pissed about the result, but she looked at Faith, as if suddenly realizing what she said, and her mouth opened slightly upon seeing Faith’s expression.
Faith’s eyes had darkened at the comment, ‘If only you would let me, B,’ Faith thought, unconsciously licking her lips before moving over towards the cue ball to aim her shot. Faith blinked a few times, refocusing her mind on the task at hand, instead of the blonde who was moving up behind her, looking over her shoulder, in true character, to mess up her shot. ‘Fuck, she did not just breathe on my ear!’ Faith hit the cue ball too fast and the shot missed the pocket completely.
Faith stood up straight, the tension evident in her back, and spun to look Buffy in the eyes. The look of want was evident, and Faith heard, rather than felt the pool stick slip from her hand and drop with a clatter to the floor. Buffy shifted her gaze to look at the fallen stick and then flicked her gaze back up to Faith. Knowing what she wanted to do; Faith cocked her head to one side, giving Buffy an out. Buffy merely raised her chin in response.
The next thing Buffy did was grunt softly when her back slammed into the wall, Faith’s lips muffling all other sounds. Faith pressed her body up against the length of the older slayer, stifling a groan as Buffy tentatively swept her tongue along her lower lip before pulling it back into her mouth. Faith held Buffy’s head to her own with one hand, while the other gripped her waist. Buffy, relaxing into the kiss, lifted her arms and tangled her hands in Faith’s hair. Turning her head slightly, Faith moved her kisses down to Buffy’s jaw, and shifted up to her ear, tugging on the soft lob with her teeth. Buffy moaned softly and unconsciously jolted her hips against Faith. Faith smiled into the blonde’s neck, and slowly pushed her leg in between the shorter woman’s two legs.
“F-faith?” Buffy’s shaky question came out in a pant, trepidation lacing her voice. Faith ignored the question and nudged her thigh up into the blonde just as she bit down softly on the hollow where Buffy’s neck met her shoulder. Fear forgotten, Buffy threw her head back, allowing for more access, and arched slightly into Faith.
Another buck of the hips caused Faith to growl softly into Buffy’s silky skin and quickly changed her course of action. Lifting her head from Buffy’s neck, Faith trailed kisses along the soft curve of Buffy’s ear and dipped her tongue into the shell before finally returning to the older slayer’s mouth.
This was not innocent or uncertain. This was demanding and assured. Faith opened her mouth and allowed just the tip of her tongue to run along Buffy’s lips before biting down and sucking the blonde’s lower lip into her mouth, effectively ending the kiss. A groan of appreciation made its way out of Buffy’s mouth, before she slowly opened her eyes, looking up into Faith’s brown ones. Faith found her voice first.
“B, what’s going on here?”
Faith snapped back to the present upon feeling Buffy shake her arm to get her attention.
“Huh? What?” Faith blinked, her head whipping around to look at the other slayer.
“I asked if you were okay, you seemed kinda spacey,” Buffy smiled, trying to set Faith at ease.
Faith took in a deep breath and visibly relaxed, taking a long swig of her beer and leaned back into the leather cushions.
“Five by five,” Faith flicked her eyes away for a moment before looking back at Buffy, “What’s up?”
“Food arrived, and you didn’t react. I thought something might be wrong.” Buffy smirked, raising her eyebrows, her eyes dropping to the plate of mozzarella sticks and french fries on the table.
“Oh, no, I was just,” Faith looked away again to the pool table where the game had finished, and back again to the food in front of her, “thinking.”
