Who I am...

“So what’re we supposed to tell Giles?” Buffy asked curiously, looking at Faith carefully. She still wasn’t quite sure if she could trust the girl… but Faith had come clean to her, and was asking for her help. What made her even more curious was that strange pendant that the younger slayer would fiddle and play with when she was nervous. “I mean… we have to tell him something if we’re gonna get him to help us figure out how to kill this guy.”

“How ‘bout we tell him nothin.” Faith grumbled like a put-out five-year-old. Buffy raised her brows, and the brunette squirmed uncomfortably under the gaze. “Tell ‘im we heard the vamps last night ranting about him. I…”

“He’ll have to find out sometime Faith. It’s not like we can lie to him forever.” Buffy complained, scowling. “Come on, I promised you that I’d help. I promised that we’d take care of this guy. That’s why you came here, right? To get met to help you kill him?”

“N… no…” Faith whispered, glowering. “I was running, okay B? Fuck, I was running. I… I didn’t think he’d find me. Fuck, I should just get out of here…”

“What, and dump this big bad-ass on me to deal with?” Buffy sneered. “Faith, running away isn’t gonna solve anything. God!” She groaned and threw her arms up and turned her back, folding her arms.

Faith nearly yelped at the sudden burning sensation from the pendant… which she hadn’t even realized she was toying with in her left hand. Releasing it so that it swung back to connect with her chest, she gulped. “Fine, sorry. Fuck, just tell him, not like it’ll make a difference.”

Buffy glared over at Faith, noticed that the front of a tough, bad-girl was breaking away to show a scared and resentful little girl, though it was barely seen through her angry posture. Faith wouldn’t even glare her in the eye. Letting out a breath, she grabbed the younger girl’s hand and pulled her into the library, attempting to hold on to her own aggravation. It wasn’t like she could just let Faith act like a brat and go all soft the minute she saw any sign of fear. “Giles!”

Willow jumped from where she was sat, cuddled with Oz, and stared. Giles nearly dropped the bowl he was putting some things together in. The werewolf didn’t even seem to notice other than briefly glancing in her general direction. “Yes… Buffy… I would greatly appreciate if you would refrain from doing that.”

Faith glowered as Giles cleaned his glasses, and was led by Buffy over to a sitting position at the table. She noticed how Buffy steered her toward the empty side of the table, and then sat on the table itself next to her. “Well, there’s a problem. There’s a new bad in town. His name was Kameros…”

“Kakistos…” Faith grumbled softly.

“Right, Kakistos. What do you know, how do we kill?” She leaned forward, brows knitting, and locked her stare on Giles. She at least was going to be nice enough to not throw Faith’s problem out in front of Willow, though she’d really like to talk to her best friend about this. She needed someone to talk to.

“Ka… Kakistos…” Giles looked genuinely surprised, paused to shake his head and clean his glasses, then stare at Buffy and Faith as if they’d each grown a new head. “H… How did you hear of him?”

“Er… Let’s just say that we know he’s here.” Buffy glanced at Faith, seeing the girl look in an almost panicked state between Buffy and Willow, then force herself to look relaxed and bored as she sat back.

“Kakistos itself is Greek. It translates to the worst of the worst. It also happens to be the name of a vampire so old that his hands and feet are cloven.” He disappeared behind the counter again, this time not for the bowl and such that he was working with, but to find something else. “And how exactly do we know that he’s here? His last known whereabouts were in Italy.”

“Let’s just say that we know he’s here, Giles…” Buffy locked eyes with him and emphasized her words carefully, making the Watcher’s brows knit with confusion. He dropped it though. Looking around, he wondered just who exactly it was that Buffy was trying to keep out of the conversation.

Willow was watching Buffy in confusion, occasionally glancing at the too-cool looking Faith sitting there and picking at her fingernails. Occasionally Faith would cast a strange look at Buffy, but otherwise seemed to be paying no attention at all. Taking a deep breath, the redhead decided that perhaps now was best for their departure. “Um… I’ve gotta head off to class Giles, but I’ll come by later to help with the research thing.”

Oz looked at the clock, then at his girlfriend, then shrugged and walked out with her, waving briefly to the others. Faith watched them go in confusion, then looked over at Buffy, who seemed to be even more confused.

“Weird friends ya got there B…” Faith teased with a small smirk. “You said classes didn’t start for another twenty.”

“Yeah… they don’t.” Buffy agreed, then shrugged. “Um… Maybe… Giles…”

“What the fuck ever, B.” Faith suddenly seemed to grow colder and look away, to hide the pain in her eyes.

Giles looked between then before coming out and waiting for a moment. Both Slayers were quiet for an inordinate amount of time, though. “Faith?”

“Fuck, fine, she’s not in England, okay?” Faith growled. It didn’t seem to register on Giles’s face for several moments before he connected what the girl was saying.

“We just need to know how to kill this cloven guy, Giles.” Buffy said softly. Despite her dislike of the girl, she couldn’t help but have part of her heart soften toward Faith. It hurt to loose a Watcher.

“Perhaps Faith should tell us what exactly…” Giles began, but was silenced by Buffy jumping down off of the table.

“Not now Giles.” She said calmly. “Not now.”

TBC