The Three of Us

Thanks to extraho_puella for the Beta.
Reviews are welcome.
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Spike was still leaning on Buffy as they walked up to Giles’ porch. Leaning further into the Slayer, Spike whispered, “She ain’t said much, ‘as she?”

”No, she hasn’t.” Buffy whispered back, “I get the feeling she doesn’t say much anyways.”

As they got to Giles door, Spike sat on the porch, “I’ll stay here for a bit. I need to recover more.”

“Sure.” Buffy replied as she knocked on the door. The girl stood on the sidewalk watching Spike and Buffy.

Giles opened the door, “Hello, Buffy. Please come in. Spike? Are you coming as well?”
“No, I’ll be there in a bit. I’ll ‘ave a smoke first.”

Buffy turned to the girl and said “You may as well come in and meet everybody. It’ll be easier to talk to you if we’re all in the same room.” Giles looked up in surprise, “Sorry, I didn’t see you there. My name is Rupert Giles.” He extended his hand to the girl. She just looked at it, then back at him and said “Faith.” as she walked into the house.

“Right!” Giles said as he closed the door. “This way.” He walked into the living room, “Everyone, this is Faith. Faith this is Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, and of course you’ve met Buffy.”

The group looked up at Faith. “Hi.” She said as she nervously looked around, then down at the floor.

“Hi.” They chorused. Xander’s jaw slowly dropped as he stared at Faith. Anya looked at Faith, then back to Xander and elbowed him. “Why don’t you look at me like that?” she yelled, and then got up and stormed out of the room.

“Anya, wait, I can explain!” Xander yelped as he started to follow her out of the room. “Sorry. It's nice to meet you.” He said to Faith on the way out of the living room.

“Don’t mind them, they’re always like that.” Willow smiled as she looked at the girl. Faith just stared at the floor.

“So, what can we do for you?” Giles asked as he looked between Buffy and Faith.

“Nothin’.” Faith replied. Giles arched an eyebrow as he looked to Buffy. She shook her head, “She says she’s a slayer.” Buffy spoke up. “She killed 7 vampires in front of me and almost killed Spike.”

The entire room stared at Faith. “A – A – Slayer?” Giles stuttered. “I don’t know of any others. Since when? Who’s your watcher? The council didn’t say anything about another slayer!” He shook his head as he furiously wiped his glasses. “Not that they would have said anything anyways.” He looked back to Faith.

“How can you be a Slayer?” Willow challenged, “Buffy’s the Slayer, there is only one! It says so in the manual. Are you lying? You must be lying, Buffy’s the slayer. What are you? Are you a Demon, or something? Who sent you? What are...” Tara reached out and grabbed Willows arm to stop the babble.

“I-I can feel the s-strength in her aura.” Tara whispered to Willow, while furtively stealing glances at Faith. “It’s very s-similar to Buffy’s. I think she may be t-telling the t-truth.”

“How can you say that?” Willow hissed at her. “Buffy’s the Slayer!”

“I kn-now, but I think we s-should talk to her and f-find out. B-but don’t be s-surprised if she is.” Tara whispered back.

“You should listen to Blondie, Red.” Faith said as she glared at Willow. “Slayer hearing ya know.” tapping her ear with a finger. Tara blushed fiercely as Willow blanched.

“Yes, well, let’s get back on track here.” Giles started. “Your name is Faith...“

“Yup.”

“Anything else?” Giles asked.

“Nope”

“Well then, who’s your watcher?” Giles sighed.

“They’re dead.” Faith said as a sad look passed across her eyes.

“Oh. I-I’m, ah, sorry to hear that.” Giles said. “When did it occur?”

“About four hours after I met her.” Faith quietly answered.

“What happened?” Giles asked softly.

“We were walking through a warehouse district, following a vamp. It went into a warehouse and we went in after it. We were jumped, and she was killed.”

“What did you do?”

“I ran.” Faith whispered.

“Hey,” Spike said as he walked up behind Faith. She quickly turned and punched him in the face with a couple of quick jabs, then kicked him in the balls again. Spike just groaned as he slid to the floor.

“Don’t sneak up on me.” She said to his inert form.

“You shouldn’t be so hard on Spike. He hasn’t done anything to you.” Buffy commented.

“He’s still a vamp and I don’t trust him.” Faith answered. “And I still don’t really understand what’s going on here. You say you’re the Slayer, and he’s your watcher.” She said as she pointed at Giles. “But who the fuck are all the rest of these people. That one that left with her panties in a wad, feels like a demon of some sort, and these two have some kinda mojo going on,” as she indicated Tara and Willow.

“Wow,” Buffy said, “that’s the most you’ve said since I met you.”

“Enough,” Giles interrupted. “We need to find out more about Faith. We can explain everything as we go along. Now Faith, please have a seat and continue with telling us what happened.”

Faith moved over to the couch and sat where she could see everybody in the room. She held her hands in her lap and looked at the floor. “What do you need to know?”

“What’s with Spike?” asked Xander as he walked back in with Anya. She stared at Faith. “He’s mine. You stay away from him. He will not be your orgasm buddy.”

“Anya! SHHH!” Xander yipped as he grabbed her and pulled her away from Faith. “I’m yours, so don’t worry about it, Okay?”

“I saw the way you looked at her!” Anya glowered. “It’s my duty to tell her to stay away.”

“Umm, it’s okay. You don’t have anything to worry about. I’m not interested in taking him away from you.” Faith told Anya. “I might borrow him for an hour or so.” She smirked. Anya blushed and turned back towards Faith with her fists clenched.

“Anya, she’s just joking relax!” Xander said as he tugged Anya to the other side of the room. “Just calm down, I’m with you, alright.”

“OKAY!” Giles yelled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just forget all of that and let’s get back to Faith. Now you were saying?”

“When my watcher was killed, I ran.” She said softly. Faith suddenly stood up and started to leave the room, “Look, it’s gettin’ late, so I’m gonna go. It, ahh, was nice to meet ya, and maybe I’ll see you around sometime. OK? ”

“Wait,” Giles yelled, “Please. I need to talk to you about this. Can you come by tomorrow? It may be better if just the two of us talk about it. Would that be alright?”
Faith looked at him, evaluating him with a cold hard stare. Giles stood there hopefully, waiting for her to reach a decision.

“Yeah, I’ll try.” With that Faith turned, stepped over Spike and left.

“That went well.” Buffy said. “I’m not surprised though. She didn’t say a thing from Restfield to here. I won’t be surprised if we never see her again.”

“You may be right Buffy. She doesn’t really seem to trust anyone.” Giles muttered aloud as he polished his glasses again. “That’s all I really need is another slayer with an attitude.”

“Giles, are you saying I have an attitude?” Buffy laughed.

“Right, I’ve gotten you confused with the other Slayer, the one named Buffster.” he smiled back. “Xander, can you help Spike get back to his crypt? I don’t really need him moaning all over my carpet all night.”

“Sure Giles, we were about to go anyways. Come on Anya, we can throw Spike in the trunk and then go looking for railroad tracks to drive over!”

“Xander!” Willow yelped, “You can’t do that to him! He’s hurt!” Tara just giggled at her girlfriend while everyone else rolled their eyes.

“It’s ok Will, I’m just joking.” Xander said as he helped Spike to his feet. “Man, you look like you got hit by a truck.”

“Nah, it was two bloody trains.” Spike growled. “What the ‘ell did I ever do to her?”

“Maybe she does know you.” Buffy laughed as Spike shot her a glare. “See you guys later.”

“We’re g-going as well.” Tara said as she stood up from the table with Willow. “We’ve got some s-studying to do, and it w-won’t get done here.” Grabbing Willows hand, they started to leave.

“I didn’t know you guys were taking anatomy courses.” Xander quipped.

“Ha, ha, ha, it’s biology!” Willow spat back, as Tara blushed.

“Y-y-ou should’ve quit while you were a-ahead Willow.” Tara smiled. “We’ll s-see you guys tomorrow.”

After Giles saw the others out, he walked over to the chair opposite of Buffy on the couch and sat. “So,” he started, “tell me what you think. There’s something that’s bothering you about our new friend.” He quietly waited while Buffy gathered her thoughts.

“I don’t know Giles, I’m really unsure. I find it hard to believe that there’s another slayer. On the one hand I hope so, but on the other, I’m afraid it’s some kind of trick.”

“Well, tell me what happened tonight.”

“I was going through Restfield and I got jumped by about 12 vamps. I staked two of them, but then I dropped Mr. Pointy, and I got backed up against a crypt. It wasn’t looking very good. I was just hoping to hold them off ‘til Spike got there. When I was using my slayer senses to track the vamps, I felt two of them take off around the backside of the crypt. And that’s when I felt her.”

“You could feel her?” Giles furrowed his brows in thought.

“Yeah, it was like the weirdest thing I’ve ever felt. Not like a vamp or a demon, but it was strong, a humming of sorts. She said she could feel it as well. She thought I was a demon or something.”

Giles looked at Buffy pensively. “If she is a Slayer, you may have some kind of connection. It will be interesting to investigate that.” He stood and went to the desk to retrieve his journal and pen. “Please, continue Buffy.” he said as he sat down again.

“She leapt off the top of the crypt with a sword in each hand and did in two vamps as she landed. I’ve only seen somebody use a sword like that in those kung fu flicks Xander watches. She was really good Giles. I just stood behind her and cleaned up her leftovers. When she took Spike down the first time, well you saw her the second time. It was smooth, quick, almost flowing.” Buffy paused as she remembered Faith turning on Spike.

“You almost sound as if you admire her.” Giles answered. “We’ll have to look into this a little deeper. I’ve got some contacts at the Council I can call. They should be able to tell me something about whether another Slayers been called or not.”

Buffy stood, and speaking in a low voice, “She said she was called about two years ago. Isn’t that when Kendra died?”

“Hmmm, yes, that would be about the right time frame. With her Watcher being killed so soon after, the Council may not have been informed of her being found. This will be interesting. Buffy? How do you feel about another Slayer?” Giles looked to Buffy as he was walking with her to the door.

“I think it would be a good thing. I’d have a better chance at surviving.” She replied.
“It would make your life easier, but we have to be sure about this. I’ll see you tomorrow”

“Thanks Giles, good luck with her.”

As he closed the door, 'I have a feeling it will require much more than luck.' he thought to himself.