Hear No Evil

Sigh. I'm so unimaginative when it comes to chapter titles. Ah well. First part = disclaimers. Also, I love you reviewers, you really know how to make a girl blush!

Chapter Two

Faith snuck into the high school when she knew everyone was in class. As soon as the door closed behind her, voices came in a wave that nearly overwhelmed her--thinking if x is pi then y is…huh? and damn kids wouldn't do their homework to save their lives and I can't believe she wore the same thing as me and I wish I was dead.

Faith put her hands to her ears and glared at the empty hallway. If she concentrated, she could block out most of it, but it still felt like she was surrounded by the entire school, all having different conversations at a yell. She shook her head and went to the library, taking a roundabout route to avoid Snyder's approaching thoughts.

Maybe it was just the regular library quiet, but everything calmed down once she was through the doors. She could heares ies in the back office, reading, the words of his book coming in loud and clear. She went up to the check out desk, cautiously, knowing that she wasn't exactly going to be winning any popularity awards around here any time soon. Not as long as they all had Little Miss Perfect to take care of their evil for them…up to and including her.

Hmm, should check the Codex…maybe cross-reference it with Humphrey's Grimoire… Giles stepped out of the office, a cup of tea in one hand, the book he was still half-reading open in the other.

"Hey, G-man." Faith tapped her fingers on the countertop, trying not to look as nervous as she felt.

Giles looked up and froze, his fingers tightening on his cup, and closed the book with a snap. Faith grinned at him, trying to look as badass as possible. She was pretty impressed with him, really--Wesley would have screamed like a girl and probably pissed himself if she'd startled him like that. But he didn't need to know that. He put down his tea and the book, slowly, like he was trying not to provoke a mad dog. Which was pretty much what his thoughts were saying.

The tranquilizer gun under the counter…I think I can reach it before she c clo closer… "Hello, Faith."

Faith watched his hands slide out of sight. "No offense, G-man, but we both know I'm the quicker draw, right? And if I was here to mess you up, I think I could still get a few good ones in before the tranqs kicked in. So maybe you want to get on this side of the counter before I start thinkin' you aren't being very friendly."

There was no outward sign that he'd been affected by her words, but the fear in his thoughts was very satisfying. He brought his hands back up and came around the counter. "What can I do for you, Faith?"

Faith shoved her hands in her pockets. She didn't want to be here, and she hoped to get out before any of the Scoobies showed up. This hearing thoughts thing was pretty awesome…she could hear enemies coming, she could have the upper hand in confrontations, and she could out-think even Giles. But she knew better than to trust any ability that suddenly popped into her head on a Hellmouth. Plus, her hand still itched, and she was getting a monster headache from being around so many people--the thoughts of everybody in town pressing against hers. This was obviously not going to end well if she just ignored it. She eyed Giles up and down, noticing how tense he was, and decided he was even less impressed with her being here. Best to get it out of the way all at once. "I got a problem."

"And you think I would be willing to help you?" Giles asked, his voice steady and dangerous. His mind was still scared, though, and Faith gave him a lazy grin.

"Yeah, I think you will." She walked towards him, wondering if he'd flinch. He didn't, but his thoughts said it had been a pretty close call. She brushed by him to sit in Buffy's regular chair at the Scooby table. She'd show him. She was a Slayer, too, Goddamn it, and it was about time he started acting like it.

"What seems to be the trouble? Does betraying your calling not sit well with you anymore?" He'd turned to watch her, but he was standing stiffly, as far from her as the space allowed.

Faith felt a flash of anger--the G-man would defend his Slayer to the death, no matter what a bitch she'd been--but she didn't show it. Much as it hurt her pride, she needed him. "I go where I'm appreciated," she said. It started out sounding strong, defiant, but halfway through she remembered what the Boss had been really thinking about her all this time, and she trailed off into a mumble. Damn him. Damn Giles.

"Listen, I killed these demons the other night--" she started.

Probably utterly innocent creatures…

"You don't know that!" she said, thumping a fist down on the table. "All demons are evil in the end. What do you think, I go looking for the ones that haven't done anything wrong…at least, not while they're sucking up to B about being reformed?"

Giles' eyebrows rose and he started to clean his glasses, but she'd caught the trailing image in his mind: Jenny…lying on the bed…rose petals on the stairs and Bolero floating in the air… "You heard what I thought," he said flatly.

"Yeah. I did. And I wanna know what it means."

"I have no intention of helping you, Faith. The fact that you believed otherwise shows that you might be able to read minds, but you are still deluding yourself. You are a tool of the Mayor's. You're still refusing to face the consequences of your actions." Giles settled his glasses back on his nose and turned his back on her.

She tried to hear what he was thinking, but all of a sudden it was like a door had slammed down. His thoughts were a bunch of nonsense--'Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe. All mimsy were the borogroves, and the mome raths outgrabe…

"Hey!" Faith jumped up from the table and grabbed him by the shoulder before he could get back to the office. She spun him around, fighting not to hold hoo hoo hard and hurt him. "Listen, G-man…" She saw his frown, and amended, "Giles. Look. I know, okay? I could hear him, the Boss…I mean, the Mayor. And you're right, okay? That make you feel better?"

Giles brushed her hand off his shoulder. "No." And as in uffish thought he stood, the Jabberwock with eyes of flame came whiffling through the tulgey woods, and burbled as it came…

Faith backed up a step, trying to shake the poetry out of her head. "Could you lighten up with the Jabberwock?" she asked. "I…my head hurts."

Giles looked at her more closely. "It's painful?"

Faith rubbed the back of her neck with one hand, frowning at him. "It wasn't at first. But there's a lot of people around, you know? They think too much."

"How far can you hear?"

"The whole school…maybe more." Faith closed her eyes and fought to get back to the point where she'd been in charge of this conversation. "Lay off my case, G-man. You help me, or--" She paused and glared at him, trying to find his worst thought. "Or I'll tell B how you and Mrs. S. bumped uglies on the hood of a cop car."

Giles opened his m to to say something, but nothing came out. The last stanza of the Jabberwocky faded out of his mind. Pressing her advantage, Faith added, "Twice."

Giles went red. "Fine. You have my co-operation. But, Faith…there can be no going back to the Maonceonce this ends. If you know his thoughts, you know he cannot possibly truly care for you."

"Yeah." Faith turned away. "Let's just get this over with. I want to get out of here--"

Before she could finish, she heard them coming--Red, Xander, Oz, and Cordy. She spun to face the library doors, her fists clenching. The doors swung open and they all walked in, their words and thoughts babbling together. They shut up as soon as they saw her, but their thoughts kept going. It sure as hell wasn't flattering.

Xander opened his big mouth first. "You know, I was just thinking it would be gref pef people who turned traitor on us and hurt our friends visited us more often."

"No, you weren't," Faith said. "You were thinking about getting Cordy into the broom closet during study hall."

"What?" Xander asked, looking sideways at Cordy. "That's really…what?"

"Why are you here, Faith?" Red asked, glaring at her through narrowed eyes.

"That's cold, Red, it really is." Faith put her hands on her hips. "I'm giving up evil, I came to see if Soulboy had support group I could join. Because you guys forgive just about anybody once they say they're going good, right? I wanted to jump on the bandwagon."

She's laughing at us because she thinks she can get away with it. She's probably just here to spy on us. Why hasn't Giles thrown her out?

"As if he could," Faith muttered, mostly to herself, but Red heard her anyway.

"You were listening to me think!" she said. "Giles, Faith was listening to me think! Wait, how'd she do that?" She looked suspiciously at Faith and thought, Skank!

"Thanks." Faith matched Red's glare with her own. "It's better than dressing like a runaway circus tent, anyway."

Giles stepped between them and held his arms out as though to separate them. "It would appear that Faith has gained the ability to read minds," he said. "We're going to research the problem and see if we can reverse the effect."

"Research it? Why not just let her suffer knowing what we all really think of her?" Red said.

"Would you prefer that someone who has proved willing to join with the Mayor be able to know exactly what our plans are?" Giles asked. "It's better that this ends, as soon as possible."

"But we don't have any plans," Xander said. The other three turned and glare him him. "What? We don't. She probably heard it from Giles first."

"Actually, as a Watcher, I have ways of shielding my mind against telepathic intrusion," said Giles. Faith grinned at him--he was a pretty smooth liar--but he ignored her and continued, "But thank you, Xander. Confirming our lack of strategies was an excellent idea."

I don't see how any of this concerns me. "I don't see how any of this concerns me," Cordy said with an impatient sigh.

"Giles is right," Red said. "The sooner we figure this out, the sooner we can get rid of her. And when Buffy comes--"

"There will be no fighting," Giles said. "Faith came to me of her own free will. She is not our prisoner."

"Too bad," Red said, and went to the table. Oz followed her, passing Faith with only a mild glance.

We are the sum of our thoughts. If Faith knows all we think, then she knows all that we are. If she knows all that we are, then we are within her. We are in Faith. Faith is all of us. "Huh," Oz said.

Faith just stared at him. "Whoa, Oz, that's deep."

Oz looked at her sideways. If Faith is me, then I am Faith. That which she does, we have all done…there is no evil in her that is not in all of us. When she looks into the abyss, the abyss looks into her. "I guess."

"Thanks," Faith said. "I think."

She knows what Oz is thinking. I don't know what he's thinking. She's going to know him better than I do…that's not fair. She's evil. Why couldn't someone good get telepathy when we need it?

"Hey, Red, it's not like that. And I'm not fucking evil, okay? I just--" Faith stopped. There was really nowhere to go from there, and Red wasn't going to believe her anyway.

I hate how she can hear what I think. I don't want to be here, near her. She's just going to screw us over…she's going to hurt Buffy again.

"When did I hurt Buffy?" Faith asked. "She's the one who played me. She got herself into that. Deadboy didn't even go for me. His loss."

Red stood up, her face set and resolved. "Get the hell out of my head, Faith." I can't stay here. She's going to hear it all…I've got to warn Buffy. "I'm leaving. Giles, I'll come back and research later, okay?"

"All right, Willow." Giles set a stack of books on the table. "But be aware that we might not have much time to work on this. It could get worse before it gets better."

Faith fidgeted, watching Red and Oz leave the library. "That's not very reassuring, G-man."

"It wasn't meant to be." Giles pointed to a book. "You may start with that one. Look for pictures of the demons you fought before this began."

Faith took the huge volume and tried to settle down with the others to a bout of researching. She tried to shut out the sound of the words they were reading and push aside her growing headache. But soon Xander was thinking so loudly that it was impossible to ignore him. Faith shoved herself back from the table and eyed him. He was pretending to read, but she could hear his internal babble.

Don't think about sex. Don't think about naked Faith. Oh, my God. Sex. Naked Faith. Sex with naked Faith. Stop it! Think about something else. Buffy's something else! Buffy. Naked Buffy. Naked Buffy with naked Faith. Sex with naked Buffy and naked Faith…

She rolled her eyes and burst out, "Jesus, Xander, tone it down, would you? It ain't gonna happen. Ever again." Faith paused, grinned at the others, and then quirked an eyebrow at him. "At least, not with you there."

Oh, my God. She heard it all. And she--does that mean--with Buffy--oh my God…

Cordelia smacked the back of Xander's head. "Stop thinking!"

Xander cringed and lifted a hand to his head, his face still beet-red. Buffy and Faith. Faith and Buffy. Buffy and… "I, um, I think I gotta--I mean, uh--sorry. Bye."

"Yeah, don't ruin your pants over me, stud," Faith called after him, disgusted with the fading sounds of his thoughts. met met Cordy's glare evenly. "Hey, not my fault if your boy's not satisfied by the broom closet."

Bitch. "You know, bitch is a good look on you, Faith," Cordelia shot back. It makes last week's fling with utter stupidity seem like the good old days. "It makes last week's fling with utter stupidity seem like the good old days." I don't see why we're helping someone who's gone evil. "I don't see why we're--"

"Yeah, Cordy, I get it. Think faster, maybe your brain won't miss your mouth next time." Faith slammed herself down into her chair sideways, dangling her feet over its arm. Cordelia gave a disgusted snort and stormed out of the library.

Giles stared at her mildly. "You do have a talent for alienating people who could be your friends," he said. Poor child. She's had a difficult life…lost her Watcher…now this. If only they could forgive her; if only she didn't insist on hiding herself behind her independence. Hard to believe she's only just turned sixteen. Though, of course, I was just like her at that age. Perhaps I'm not one to talk.

"I don't need your pity," Faith said. "And you suck at shielding your thoughts."

"It's not pity. It's compassion." Giles tilted his head. "You'd do well to know the difference." And I am capable of shielding. If I choose not it it is only to show you that minds cannot lie. This is trust, Faith. Value it for what it is.

Faith didn't know what to say. She wanted to think he was trying to trap her by playing nice, but she couldn't. He was right; she could feel it. His mind couldn't lie to her. The things she was hearing were true, no matter how people felt about them. And after coming here in broad daylight, she knew she couldn't go back to the Boss. He'd make her into fondue. Maybe she could come back, sort of, apologize to Red and B, and try to make it right. Maybe--

Again, she heard the babble of thoughts before the library doors swung open. It was B, bright and airy and unconcerned. Obviously Red hadn't found her and told her Faith was there. She came in, smiling, but the smile disappeared the moment she saw who was sitting at the table.

"Faith," she said, quietly, but her mind was screaming rage and revenge and jealousy and embarrassment. Faith stood up and walked towards her, Giles following behind her.

"Listen, B--" she started, and then one voice rose over all the others in her head.

THIS TIME TOMORROW I WILL KILL YOU ALL.

Faith stumbled and fell forward into B's arms, clutching her head, and the world went dark around her.

*

To be continued...Whee!