The Gift, Take Two

Title: The Gift, Take Two - Chapter 11: Brave New World
Email: Dafmeister@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse is owned by Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox and a bunch of other people who aren't me. No infringement of copyright is intended blah blah blah...
Distribution: Faithfanfiction.net, Mystic Muse, Shades Of Grey, Slayer's Fanfic Archive, A Sorta Fairytale, Oralfxatn, anyone else who tells me first.
Rating: R
Timing: End of Season 5
Feedback: Yes please, it really helps keep my morale up when my muse is being difficult.
Spoilers: Everything up to the end of Season 5
Summary: With Faith all but healed, she and Buffy take stock of their situation.
Author's notes: Huge thanks to Kaz, beta extraordinaire, to Leila, my friend and sounding board, and to Notty, who helped me knock this story back into shape.

*****

What the devil is the matter with that girl? Giles glanced over the customer's shoulder to see Anya still pacing the floor of the Magic Box, making minute adjustments to the displays.

The ex-demon had been acting strangely since the engagement party. Giles knew that something had happened that night, something involving Faith. Moments after Faith had entered the kitchen, Xander had come out glowering, obviously angry, but he had concealed his feelings as soon as he rejoined his friends. Giles had just barely spotted the change, and the others all seemed oblivious.

All but Anya. Giles was watching for a reaction from her, and he didn't have long to wait. She had immediately realised that something was wrong, that something had happened between him and Faith in the kitchen. After a few moments she had left the room, searching for Faith, Giles assumed. Faith had come back soon after, her face a mask of indifference, and had spent the rest of the evening sitting quietly, always slightly outside the circle of the group. Anya didn't come back for some minutes after that, and when she did appear she had seemed unusually contemplative.

Since then, Anya had been rather distracted. She spent most of her working day fiddling with the displays or simply prowling around the store. At least half a dozen times, Giles had been sure she was about to ask him something, but each time she had simply muttered something about stock levels or pricing. Frankly, she was getting on his nerves.

As the customer left the store, leaving the two of them alone, Giles decided he'd had enough. "For God's sake, Anya, would you just spit it out?"

Anya's head jerked up. "What? Spit what out?"

"Whatever it is that's been bothering you all day." Giles switched the kettle on and began hunting for the teabags.

"Oh, right, a metaphor..." The attempt at humour fell flat. "I... I want to know about Faith."

"Faith?" Giles looked up momentarily from filling the teapot. "I'm not sure I understand. What exactly is it that you want to know?"

"I want you to tell me about her." Anya sat down at the research table and began picking fretfully at her nails. "I mean, I don't really know much about her. I know she helped the Mayor with the whole Ascension thing, and I know everyone was really scared when she came out of her coma last year, but I don't know who she is... Am I making any sense?"

"I think so." Giles carried the teapot and two mugs over to the table and sat down. "I suppose I ought to start at the beginning. Faith arrived in Sunnydale at a very bad time. Buffy was still mourning for Angel, and we were all rebuilding our relationships with her after she ran away that summer. Buffy also had to help her mother come to terms with learning about her other life. I think we were all too busy holding the group together to think about integrating anyone new into the mix. Not that Faith had much choice about when she arrived, she had been pursued all the way from Boston by a vampire called Kakistos-"

"Kakistos? As in 'Worst of the Worst', cloven feet, that Kakistos?" Anya broke in.

"You know of him?" Giles asked, surprised.

"Giles, I was a demon for over a thousand years. Kakistos was legendary when I was just starting out."

"Yes, well, in any event, Kakistos had killed Faith's Watcher. Faith managed to escape and she fled here, hoping Kakistos wouldn't follow." Giles poured the tea before continuing. "Unfortunately, Faith had inflicted a disfiguring injury on him, and he wanted revenge. He managed to corner Faith and Buffy, but they were able to destroy him."

"And..."

Smiling gently at Anya's impatience, Giles continued. "The Council decided that Faith should remain here and work with Buffy. Faith could be a trifle... abrasive, at times, but things were progressing quite nicely until that harpy Gwendolyn Post appeared."

Anya was startled by the sudden venom in Giles' voice. "Who's Gwendolyn Post?"

"She was a Watcher." Giles sighed. "I vaguely recognised her name. She arrived on night while Buffy, Faith and I were patrolling and announced that she had been send as Faith's new Watcher. What I didn't know at the time was that she had been expelled from the Council shortly after I came to America. She was here looking for a demonic artifact, the Glove of Myhnegon. To make matters worse, it was right then that Xander discovered that Angel had returned and Buffy was hiding him from the rest of us. Post took advantage of the general atmosphere of mistrust to set Faith against Buffy - classic divide and conquer tactics. Eventually the deception was revealed and Faith worked with Buffy to defeat her, but the damage to their relationship was enormous and they never managed to repair it.. After that Faith was always more distant."

"Sounds like you're making excuses for her." Anya said, watching Giles critically.

The Watcher shook his head. "That's not my intention. Faith made some very serious mistakes that year, but she was not the only one."

"Go on." Anya sat back, sipping gently at her tea.

"After that, we rarely saw Faith apart from when her Slayer duties required it. There was a period after that Christmas when I hoped she and Buffy making some progress, but it came to nothing in the end. It was during this period that Xander's 'encounter' with Faith occurred." Giles automatically began polishing his glasses. "Fighting has, or at least had, a tendency to get Faith rather... stimulated. That night, she was involved in a rather awkward engagement with several of the Sisterhood of Jhe. Xander helped her extricate herself, and Faith's libido did the rest. I suspect that a great deal of Xander's hostility toward her stems from that night."

"What do you mean?"

"To Xander, that night had a real meaning; he later said that he felt they had a 'connection' because of it, but I think that Faith simply found him... convenient."

Anya frowned. "She used him?"

"In essence, yes. Had Xander not been available, I expect she would have found another... companion. Coming so soon after his break-up with Cordelia, I don't think Xander was emotionally able to accept that it had simply been a one night stand for her." Giles paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts before proceeding. "Shortly after that, everything went to pieces. There was an accident - Buffy and Faith were engaged in a running battle with a number of vampires when they encountered a human in an alley. Faith reacted on instinct and staked him before Buffy could stop her."

Anya nodded. "The Deputy Mayor, I remember hearing about it."

Giles sighed. "It wasn't the first time such an accident had happened, but I can't recall an occasion that had such dire consequences. The two of them initially feigned ignorance of what had happened, but when Faith suspected that Buffy was about to confess, she pre-empted her and told me that it had been Buffy who killed Mr. Finch. Fortunately for Buffy, I spotted the deception. By that point I had been dismissed from the Watchers and Wesley had arrived, so I was working unofficially, but I hoped to deal with the matter without involving him or the Council. Angel was assisting in that regard, but somehow Wesley got wind of what had happened and called in the Council's retrieval team - trying to assert his authority, I suppose. In any case, it backfired; Faith escaped. Eventually, Buffy and I convinced Wesley to allow Faith to remain here, subject to certain assessments, but it was too late. I think Faith had become convinced that none of us could be trusted or would ever value her, so she allied herself with someone who she thought would."

"The Mayor."

Giles nodded. "Exactly. Not long afterward, Faith's defection was revealed. She captured Willow during a raid on City Hall and came very close to killing her. She did murder Professor Lester Worth, although that actually worked in our favour."

"Excuse me?" Anya looked bemused.

"His death drew our attention to his work, exactly the opposite of what Wilkins had intended. We learned that he was only invulnerable until he Ascended, something we might never have discovered in time otherwise."

Anya nodded her understanding. "So what happened with Faith?"

"She poisoned Angel, to distract Buffy from preparing for the Ascension. We discovered that there was a cure for the poison, the blood of a Slayer. With some help from Willow and her computer, Buffy tracked Faith to the flat Wilkins had set up for her, intending to feed her to Angel. In the end, Buffy stabbed Faith with her own knife and Faith jumped off the building onto a passing truck. Buffy resorted to using her own blood to save Angel-"

"He fed on her?" Anya asked, not quite believing what she was hearing.

"By that point, Angel was delirious, I don't think he had much conscious control of his actions." Giles didn't sound entirely convinced, but Anya let it go. "In any case, Buffy recovered, and while she was at the hospital she learned that Faith and survived but was in a coma. We defeated the Mayor, and a few months later, Faith woke up. You know what happened from then on."

Anya nodded. For a few moments, she was silent, thinking over what she had heard. "What about before? Before she came to Sunnydale?"

Giles shook his head slightly. "I don't know very much, except that she's grew up in Boston. Faith never really talked about her background. I didn't even know her last name until we started working on her new identity. She opened up a little more to Buffy, at least in the beginning, but Buffy never revealed what she had said except in the most general terms. "

Anya thought this over, then got up from the table and began working again - really working, not just fiddling like she had been doing. After a minute or two, she turned to Giles again. "Why did you trust her, when she came back?"

"I saw fear." Giles' voice was barely above a whisper.

Anya hadn't known what answer to expect, but that certainly wasn't it. "Fear? That's it? She walked into a room full of people who'd happily kill her and you didn't expect her to be scared?"

"I have never seen Faith afraid before. None of us have, except Buffy. Tara was right - Faith was afraid that we wouldn't believe her, afraid of what would happen if we didn't." Giles began clearing away the tea things as he spoke. "The fact that she not only felt that fear, but came all this way to face it, made me take her seriously."

Anya nodded slowly, the focussed, objective expression she had tried to maintain through Giles' history lesson softening into sympathetic concern. "Do you... do you think she'll be okay?"

"I really wish I knew." Giles leaned against the counter, his shoulders slumped; suddenly, he looked awfully tired. "I've tried to reassure her, and Buffy, but the truth is that she's in for a very difficult time. She'll have enough to deal with facing her own demons, but so much depends on other people..."

"Other people meaning us, the Scooby Gang?"

A tired nod. "Yes, all of us, but particularly Xander and Willow. If either of them begins to actively oppose Faith's presence here, it will tear Buffy apart."

"We'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen, then, won't we?" Anya replied, her usual tone of forceful good cheer reasserting itself.

Giles smiled back at her. One down.

*****

"Damn it, B, just let it go, already!" Faith pushed through the door to the Magic Box a few days later, walking unaided and practically vibrating with annoyance.

Buffy came through the door right after her. "Faith, you heard what the doctor said! You shouldn't be straining your leg yet. Just because the cast's off, that doesn't mean you're done healing."

Faith span around to face the older Slayer, ignoring the irritated glare that Giles was shooting at the pair of them. "There was nothing on the x-rays, there's no pain, everything's five by five. The doc was just coverin' his ass 'cause he couldn't believe how fast I heal."

"Okay, fine, just don't come running to me when your leg snaps off!"

"B, think about what you just said for a sec."

"Thank you for shopping at the Magic Box, please do come again." Giles said in his best 'genial shopkeeper' voice, as he handed a bag to a middle-aged woman, who was looking rather warily at the two Slayers. "Please ignore the bickering children."

The customer beat a hasty retreat past a sheepish Buffy and an openly smirking Faith. For a moment Giles wondered if the previous three years had actually happened. "Well, if the two of you have had enough fun alienating my clientele, what can I do for you?"

"Sorry, Giles," Buffy said as she sat down at the table and pulled a newspaper out of her bag. "We were just at the hospital getting Faith's cast taken off, and she decided she'd rather come here than go home and rest."

Faith growled. "Okay, B, let me spell it out for you. Hospital. Cell. Basement. Hospital again. Bedroom. Noticing the pattern? I'm tired of being cooped up!"

"Yes, well, you're certainly looking better, Faith." Giles said, trying to smooth the waters.

"Thanks, Giles. Now I just need to convince Hawkeye here." Faith indicated Buffy with a nod of her head, then caught Giles' look of confusion. "Hawkeye Pierce? You never saw M*A*S*H? I just lost all respect for you." She stalked over to the table and flung herself down on a chair.

Giles shook his head and changed the subject. "Is there something interesting in the newspaper today?" he asked Buffy.

Buffy answered without looking up from her reading. "If there is, it's not in the want-ads."

"You're looking for a job?" Giles asked, a little surprised.

"Yeah, it turns out Mom was right; bills really don't pay themselves." Buffy's tone was the one Giles had come to know as 'I'm scared but I can't let anyone see it'.

Giles put his hand on his Slayer's shoulder, seeking to reassure her. "Buffy, if you need money, I can help you."

Buffy looked up at him and smiled weakly. "Thanks, Giles, but I've can't live on handouts forever. Of course, if something doesn't turn up soon, I might not have an option."

"I take it the search isn't going well?" Giles asked, giving her shoulder a final squeeze before returning to the counter.

Buffy snorted. "Seems like as soon as a potential employer hears the words 'college dropout' they can't give you less attention."

"Hey, at least you made it through high school." Faith remarked, staring up at the ceiling. "Right now, I got the choice between slinging burgers at the Double Meat Palace or pouring mochas at the Espresso Pump." She looked over at Buffy. "I think I'll go for the mochas - no stupid uniform, no burger grease in my hair."

In spite of herself, Buffy couldn't help laughing a little. "Sorry, I just can't see you as a waitress, Faith."

"It's either that or I get leathered up and find myself a street corner, and my conscience doesn't bug me that much."

"There must be something else you can do, some skill you have." Giles protested as Anya emerged from the basement, carrying a clipboard.

Faith shot him a look the screamed 'Are you serious?' "Giles, there're three things I'm good at; Slaying, screwing and shakin' it on the dance floor, and I think those last two are kinda connected."

"Oh, sex talk! That's always fun! Giles turns such funny colours." Anya burst out - this was much more interesting than stocktaking.

"Yes, thank you, Anya, but we are not actually discussing sex." Giles said with an air of long-suffering dignity. "Faith was simply expressing her pessimistic view of her job prospects."

"What can I say? I'm a specialist." The younger Slayer shrugged.

Giles suddenly had an idea. "What about Xander's construction site? Perhaps he knows of some vacancies there, and both of you certainly have the strength and stamina for construction work."

Buffy thought about the idea for a moment. "It's worth a shot. What do you think, Faith?"

"Yeah, why not. Might cause a few problems, though."

Buffy looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Faith laughed. "Come on, B! You and me, tight jeans, getting all sweaty, lots of bending and flexing. I'm just saying, some guys might find that a bit distracting."

"You think?" Buffy blushed and smiled slightly.

"I told you, B. Hot chicks with super-powers."

*****

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Spike stood in the electrical tunnel and surveyed his handiwork. From the outside, a ventilator grill covered the steel door. A concealed catch released the grill, which could then be swung aside to allow access. With the grill closed, the door was all but undetectable.

No more tossing a blanket over my head and dashing for the sewers. Spike locked the door, set the grill in place, and swaggered off down the tunnel, whistling tunelessly. I wonder if Willy's does a lunch menu?

*****

The world span around her.

Air rushed past her face.

Faith hit the ground shoulder-first, automatically tucking her head in and bringing up her arms, guiding herself into a roll that had her coming upright within a second of landing. Her opponent was already following up, however, and as Faith came to her feet, she was forced to defend against a savage series of kicks. Step by step, she was forced to give ground. As she blocked strike after strike, Faith desperately searched for an opening to counter-attack, but her assailant was just a shade too fast. A final kick penetrated her defences, slamming into her just below the ribs, knocking her over backwards and driving the air from her lungs.

"Are you okay?" Buffy was immediately on her knees beside Faith, her expression worried. "It's too soon, I said it was too soon for you to be training again, you'll get hu-"

Faith cut her off with an impatient wave of her hand. "I'm fine, B. I'm just really out of practice." Accepting Buffy's offered hand, Faith got to her feet. "You've been workin' on your kicks - that last one was a killer."

The two girls began slowly circling each other once again. "So, you didn't do much training while you were in jail?" Buffy asked, launching a quick jab that Faith easily avoided.

"I worked out a lot, there wasn't much else to do, but that's pretty much it. The prison system isn't big on teaching convicts unarmed combat." Faith's counter-attack forced Buffy back a few paces. "I haven't had a real training session since..."

Buffy relaxed her combat stance as Faith tailed off. "Since when?"

"Since the last time I trained with you." Faith half-turned to stare out of the training room's small, high windows. "I can't believe that was barely two years ago, it feels like a lifetime."

Buffy stepped up beside Faith and slipped her arm around the taller girl's shoulders. "I know what you mean."

Faith forced a slight smile. "You want to show me how to do that throw you did earlier?"

*****

"Giles, can I talk to you about something?" Anya asked as she totaled up the day's takings. Buffy and Faith had left an hour previously. The two Slayers had emerged from the training room looking thoroughly energised; Faith in particular had a spring in her step that Giles couldn't recall seeing since before the death of Alan Finch. The sparring session seemed to have finally convinced Buffy that Faith's knee was fully fit, and the two of them were going out on patrol together that night.

Giles looked over at her from the display case where he was replenishing the crystal selection. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just... why don't Slayers get paid? It's a violation of basic capitalism, the exchange of currency for goods or services. Slayers provide a service, and they get squat for it!"

"Somehow I don't think capitalist economics were a major consideration when the system was set up, Anya." Giles replied dryly.

"Maybe not, but it still doesn't make sense." Anya said, refusing to be put off. "If a Slayer's working a full-time job just to keep going, she's going to be physically and mentally tired before she even gets to the important stuff, and that's bad for everyone. So why does it happen?"

Giles replied, a little defensively. "It's never been an issue before."

"Why not?"

"Normally, a Slayer would live with her Watcher. Potential Slayers begin training years before they are called, and over that period, they are gradually separated from their families. The Council supplies the Watcher with extra funds to meet the Slayer's living costs." Giles took of his glasses and pulled out his handkerchief. "That didn't happen with Buffy. The Council didn't find her until after she was called, and by that point, it was too late to begin the separation process. Since Buffy was living with her mother, I couldn't think of a way to get the money to her that Joyce wouldn't notice, so I used it to improve our resources, the library for instance. After Joyce found out that Buffy was the Slayer, I offered to pass the extra money on to her, but she refused - I think she wanted to keep some part of her daughter's life exclusive to her. Once Buffy severed her links with the Council, the point became moot in any case. Besides, even with separate grants for Buffy and Faith, there wouldn't be enough to maintain Buffy's house, especially with Dawn to consider."

"So why can't the Council give them more? I mean, how many times has Buffy stopped the end of the world?"

"Whether or not the Council can do it isn't at issue, Anya." Giles replied, his voice revealing a hint of frustration. "The question is whether they will. Getting the Council to agree to Faith remaining here was unlikely enough. Persuading them to provide a salary for the Slayer, it would be a complete break with tradition."

"Oh, screw tradition!" Anya snapped. "It's stupid and unfair. You basically get paid to read books and give advice, then send them out to do the actual work!"

Giles glared at her.

"You know what I mean! They're the ones who go out every night and risk their lives. They shouldn't have to worry about bills as well."

"Oh for God's sake, Anya!" Giles snapped, finally losing his temper in the face of the tirade. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself. "I'll talk to Quentin, see if something can be done. By the way, I agree with you, I just don't have a say in the matter."

*****

"B, catch!"

Buffy span around, her hand automatically reaching out to grasp the stake Faith threw to her. The vampire at her feet was trying to get up, but she casually kicked him under the chin, sending his head snapping back as he slumped to the ground again. Before the vampire could even lift his head, she plunged the stake home.

Faith, meanwhile, had slammed one vampire headfirst into a gravestone and was driving the other toward Buffy with a string of kicks and punches that left the demon unable to do anything but block and retreat.

Retrieving her own fallen stake, Buffy sent it flying into the chest of the stunned vampire with a snap of her wrist. As a particularly powerful kick from Faith sent the remaining vampire tumbling backwards, Buffy took the opportunity to toss the other stake back to her friend. Faith sent a nod of thanks her way and lunged at the vampire, dusting it before it could react.

"Just like ridin' a biker." Faith remarked, smiling broadly. "You think we should've let one go? Y'know, spread the word that the Chosen Two are back in business?"

Buffy chuckled. "I think the news'll spread on it's own. If you want, we can stick a notice on the bulletin board at Willy's." Laughing and joking, the two Slayers continued their patrol.

Unseen behind them, a vampire emerged from behind a crypt and walked briskly off in the opposite direction.

A little later, the vampire entered an abandoned warehouse near the docks. Ignoring the enticing smell of blood coming from the half-dead prostitute chained in the corner, he headed straight for what had once been an office.

Settling himself in an old swivel chair, the vampire put his feet up on the desk and replayed what he had seen in his mind.

So, you're back.