I'd Go Anywhere With You

Disclaimer in Part One

******

The pair ate breakfast in relative silence, not wanting to bring up anything too serious for the time being. Buffy was trying to think of what to ask Faith that wouldn’t get her as upset as last night and Faith was trying to figure out what Buffy would ask next.

Buffy cleared her throat once they were done eating. “You know, I’ve been thinking.”

Faith thought of a few sarcastic remarks to say, but decided against it. “What are you thinking?” was all she could come up with while stacking the empty plates and shoving them off to the side of the table.

“Well,” Buffy said uneasily, “since you’re the one whose been doing all the talking, you should take a break. How ‘bout you ask me a question?”

Faith let out a sigh of relief. She wasneadyeady to talk more about her crappy childhood and was a little embarrassed about breaking down the night before. “Sure,” Faith said slowly, thinking about what to ask. “What were you like before you became a slayer?”

Buffy laughed. “You know, becoming a slayer was probably one of the best things that happened to me, for my personality anyway,” she got up from the table and moved to her bed, relaxing and stretching out on it. “I was your basic conceited bitch in L.A.”

“No offense,” Faith smirked at her, “but you were pretty stiff and uppity back in Sunnydale. Was that a slayer deal?”

“Wow, how could I ever take offense to that?” Buffy remarked sarcastically and narrowed her eyes at Faith then chuckled. “No, that was in L.A., too. That just took longer to get rid of them than some of my other excellent personality traits.” She stopped for a minute, trying to think of the best way to describe herself back then. “I was like Cordelia before she even contemplated thinking of others. I had the gang of minions, the holier-than-thou attitude, I even won May queen.”

“And I’m glad I didn’t know you back then,” Faith said to her as she walked over and sat on the edge of her own bed, facing Buffy, “‘cause I would have definitely beat you down without a second thought.” The blonde made a face and Faith laughed. “You had money, didn’t you?”

“We were... comfortable,” Buffy said slowly, thinking about what she should say. “I really didn’t pay attention to it. I just knew if I asked my dad for money he would give it to me. I was kinda spoiled.”

“Kinda?” Faith looked at her with wide eyes.

“Yeah, well, I knew how to get what I wanted: ask Dad. That was until my parents starting fighting, around the same time I found out about the slayer thing.”

Faith leaned forward, hands resting on her knees. “How bad was it?”

“It’s wasn’t that bad at first,” Buffy thought back. “There would be a fight here and there, some of them got nasty but they were few and far between.” She sighed. “Then the slaying thing happened. I met my first watcher, Merrick, and started to train with him. Of course, I couldn’t tell my parents so they just thought I was being a delinquent.”

Faith furrowed her brow. “Wait a minute, I thought Giles was your only watcher.”

Buffy shook her head. “No, Merrick was my watcher in L.A.” She looked down on her hands. “He was killed by a vampire and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I hadn’t trained that much and even though we have natural super-strength, I wasn’t used to it yet.” She sighed and whispered, “I just couldn’t stop it.”

“Wow, B,” Faith said, almost in awe, “I guess we have more in common than I thought.”

“Yeah,” the blonde drew out in one long sigh. She shook her head to clear her head. “Anyway, I was fighting vampires but my parents just thought I was getting into fights, skipping school and who knows what else they thought I was doing. They fought all the time about what was wrong with me, what they should do with me. They thought I couldn’t hear them, but I could.”

“Parents can be a little dense sometimes,” Faith put in. “At least they tried to hide it.”

Buffy nodded, looking down and not at Faith. “Well, that stopped when I burned down the school gym.” Faith starting laughing, only stopping when Buffy scowled at her. “I was fighting a gang of vamps and there was too many of them. That seemed like the best solution, but of course I couldn’t tell my parents that. I got expelled, my parents battled over what to do with me and all of a sudden, my mom said they were getting a divorce and we were moving to Sunnydale. ‘A fresh start’ she said.” She laughed. “I guess she didn’t know what she was setting herself up for there.”

Faith grinned and nodded, agreeing. “I guess you’ve been threw a lot, too.” She took a breath. “I’mry ary about your watcher.”

“I’m sorry about yours,” Buffy looked her in the eye and gave her a small smile. “See, we do have a lot in common.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, B,” Faith kind of grunted out as a response.

The pair remained silent for a few minutes, processing what they have talked about. Buffy finally spoke up. “I know you’ve told me a little of the bad,” Faith tried to speak up but Buffy stopped her, “no, don’t say anything. I’m not gonna ask you any more of the bad stuff in your childhood.” She paused. “But I am glad you trusted me enough to tell me. No, I wanted to ask you about your happiest memories from here, Boston.”

Faith thought, trying to think of happier times in her childhood. After a few minutes went by without so much as a word from the brunette, Buffy tried to help her out, maybe jog her memory.

“How ‘bout grandparents?” she tried.

Faith shook her head. “If I had any, I never met them.”

“No extended family at all?”

She shook her head again. “Never met anyone, B. It was like everyone knew to stay away.”

“Friends at school?”

“I kinda kept to myself. I didn’t want anyone to know what was going on at home,” Faith looked down, a frown on her face.

Buffy frowned as well, trying to think of something. She got a look of determination on her face and said, “Okay, Faith, what about your watcher?”

Faith instantly brightened. “Yeah, I had a lotta good times with my watcher. She’s the only one who ever cared about me, looked out for me.”

“That’s not true, Faith,” Buffy countered. “I cared about you, still do. I was just really stupid about showing it.”

The young slayer chose to ignore the last comment, not knowing how to respond to it and what exactly the blonde had meant. “Yeah, well, she always knew the right thing to say to me to make sure I did what I was supposed to and not be ‘an insufferable adolescent’.”

“British, huh?” Buffy smirked.

“Yep,” Faith nodded. “We got along great. I don’t think watchers were supposed to be as involved with slayers as much as ours were, but she was all I had. She treated me like more than just a slayer, she treated me more like a...”

“Daughter?”

“Yeah,” Faith grinned and Buffy thought hadnhadn’t seen her that happy. “We did, like, normal things together, besides slaying and training. She helped me get over my fear of people.” She sighed. “The only time she ever got real upset with me is when I dropped out of school.”

Buffy got intrigued. “Why did you drop out?”

Faith shrugged and moved to sit next to Buffy on the blonde’s bed. “I had a negative attitude, still do really. I figured why bother going to school when I was gonna die in a couple years anyway. My watcher hated that, but the council overruled her. They figured this way I could train longer and be more focused on slaying. Apparently, they had this other one who didn’t like to listen to instructions,” she completed with a laugh and a grin.

“Very funny,” Buffy laughed, “but true. Little did they know you would be worse than I was with the listening.”

“I listened sometimes,” Faith protested, but grinned evilly at Buffy, “at least in Boston anyway.” “No I don’t think she ever got over that... and a few weeks later, she was dead.”

“You didn’t disappoint her, Faith,” Buffy said, knowing exactly what the other woman was thinking. She looked over at her, speaking softly to the now silent brunette, “if she cared as much about you as she obviously did, then she probably really did think of you as a daughter. Which means, there is no way you could have ever let her down for very long.”

“Yeah,” Faith said quietly, head looking down, “she’s the only real mother I ever had.”

“See,” Buffy smiled at being right, “I bet she couldn’t stay mad at you very long, could she?”

Faith looked up at Buffy and grinned. “She never could! I’d go out clubbing after slaying even though I was to report in and she’d be ticked for like five seconds before giving in. We just made a deal after awhilet I t I had to at least call to report that yes, I was still of the living, and that we would discuss the details in the morning.”

“Clubbing, Faith? She really helped you get over your fear of people,” Buffy laughed.

“What can I say, B,” Faith shrugged, “I like to dance and let’s face it: I’m hot. I was made to go clubbing.” She stopped while Buffy was laughing. When the blonde finally stopped, she continued. “Once I started really training, I knew I could beat up any guy who tried something I didn’t want him to. Power has a certain self-esteem boost though it probably had the wrong effect on me.”

“Maybe,” Buffy said easily, “but you got over it.”

“Yeah, and I only had to go to prito dto do it,” Faith laughed then nudged Buffy with her elbow. “This is all wrong, B. We’re supposed to be talking about you, not me. I should be the one asking the questions.”

“Hey, I was trying to help,” Buffy responded, holding her arm, “I was trying to make you see the good things in your past. I feel bad about bringing up the bad ones.”

Faith shrugged again, “Bound to come up sometime, B, and we haven’t even gotten to the Sunnydale years.” She shook her head. “But I’m getting off topic. We were talking about you.”

“Fine,” Buffy agreed, “next question.”

“Can I ask you anything?”

Buffy raised an eyebrow. “I suppose so.”

“Cool, ‘cause I’ve wanted to ask you something for years but you always wouldn’t,” Faith said. “What was it like with Angel?”

Buffy looked at her. “It?”

Faith laughed. “I meant the whole dating a vampire thing but if you want to get detailed, I’m not gonna stop you.”

Buffy leaned closer to Faith. “Well, let’s see... when I met him, I didn’t realize he was a vampire.” Faith looked at her oddly. “My vampires sensors weren’t on yet.” Faith nodded. “I just thought he was this dark mysterious guy, little older maybe, but still...”

“You had the hots for him,” Faith laughed.

The blonde blushed. “Yeah, I did,” she sighed. “I was sixteen, okay? Here was this tall, dark and handsome guy and he tells me I’m the chosen one and wants to look out for me. Then I kissed him and he vamped out.”

“Whoa,” Faith said, her eyes wide, “and you didn’t stake him?”

“I was shocked,” Buffy responded. “I didn’t see him for awhile after, but when I finally did, I saw he was against vampires, too. He was good, he had a soul. So we started to work as a team, but we still had feelings for each other. I was a junior in high school before we took things to that next level.”

Faith raised an eyebrow and smirked at Buffy who furrowed her brow in return. “Not that, Faith. Dating: we started dating. Well, at least as much as you can date a vampire.”

“So did you know about the curse?”

“Not until after,” Buffy replied.

“After the sex?”

“Yes, Faith, after the sex,” Buffy scowled over at Faith.

Faith grinned at her. “Just making sure, B.”

“So then he was Angelus,” she paused, “whom you’ve met now.” Faith chuckled at the remark. “I think you know the rest of it. The huge thing with Angel was everyone and everything was telling us we shouldn’t be together, but we didn’t feel that way. I wanted to be with him forever.”

“Well, B,” Faith let out a breath and looked at the other slayer, putting her hand on hers, “I think you just weren’t ready to hear what other people were telling you. The thing about being ayerayer is that we’re supposed to be alone, fight alone. The easiest thing for you to overcome that was to date a vampire. You know, make work and personal the same.”

“Wow, Faith,” Buffy made no move to move her hand away from Faith’s, “when the hell did you get so wise?”

“I’ve heard it comes with age,” Faith grinned, “I guess it skipped you.”

Buffy swatted her arm. “You’re just full of jokes,” she sighed. “It’s kinda like old times, without the fighting and killing.”

“Yeah,” Faith mover har hand off Buffy’s and swung her arm around her shoulders, “it’s cool, isn’t it? The Chosen Two, together again and both of them relaxed, sane and friendly to each other.”

“It’s nice,” Buffy put her head on Faith’s shoulder, “I like it.” She looked over at the clock and saw it was already mid-afternoon. “Wow, look at the time. The maid hasn’t even come to change the sheets.”

“That’s ‘cause I put the do not disturb sign on the door,” Faith said, leaning more into Buffy, “I thought it would be easier for us to clear the air. Besides, your bed hasn’t even been slept in.”

“Yeah,” Buffy sighed. “Let’s order more food and ask for towels and stuff. Then we can just stay in here for the day.”

******

The pair spent the rest of the afternoon just eating, relaxing and wang wng whatever was on T.V. Neither wanted to talk about their pasts for the moment so mostly they just stayed silent, stretching out on Buffy’s bed. They also remained in the same position they had been in earlier, Faith’s arm around Buffy’s shoulders with Buffy leaning her head on Faith’s shoulder.

Buffy finally broke the silence. “Hey Faith?”

“Yeah, B?”

She lifted her head off the brunette’s shoulder and faced her. “There’s still a couple things we need to talk about.”

Faith closed her eyes and rubbed the side of her face. “Yeah, I guess we do.”

Buffy sat up and crossed her legs underneath her, a look of determination on her face once again. “Why dou cou come to Sunnydale?”

Faith sighed. “I just saw my watcher get slaughtered and the vamp who did it was after me. I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew I needed help. I knew where you were and figured, what the hell, two slayers had to be better than one, right?”

“Why didn’t you just come out and say that when we first met?”

“In case you hadn’t noticed,” Faith smirked slightly, “I have a problem waskiasking for help. I didn’t want to seem weak.” She looked down. “I had been weak for so long, B.”

Buffy put a hand on Faith’s shoulder. “It wouldn’t have made you weak to me. I mean, I’ve had help for years. I think it’s the reason I’ve stayed alive this long.”

“Well, I didn’t have anyone helping me.”

The blonde ignored her comment. “Okay, so I know why you came to Sunnydale. What about how you acted after that deal with the fake watcher?”

“I thought you screwed me over, B. I wasn’t in the loop for any of what went down, no one told me about Angel and you didn’t explain it to me until it was too late. In a way, you chose Angel over me,” Faith summed up.

Buffy nodded. “I can see how you would think that, but I never chose him over you. I was just caught up in him coming back. It was too much for me,” she said and took a breath. “I wanted you to trust met net never gave you a reason to. Why didn’t you say anything when I went to your motel room after that night?”

“Same reason, B. I was pissed that no one cared enough to tell me what was going on. I felt like everyone only talked to me when the world was ending. I was just the second-string slayer.”

Buffy frowned. “You weren’t to me. I guess I didn’t try hard enough to make sure you knew that.”

“No, you di,” F,” Faith responded quietly.

Buffy looked up to see Faith’s eyes were starting to well up. She thought they better keep going so they didn’t have to go through everything all over again. “What about Alan?” she said softly, her hand still on Faith’s shoulder.

Faith took a deep breath and a tear rolled down her cheek. She refused to look at Buffy. “I don’t know what happened, B. One moment I think I’m going for a vamp, the next there’s blood coming out of that guy’s chest.” She stopped and sniffled so quietly Buffy could barely her it. “I didn’t mean to kill him. It was an accident.”

“I know,” Buffy put her arm around Faith and pulled her closer to her. “Why didn’t you say that?”

“I thought you would turn on me,” Faith said quietly. “Everyone always had and in my mind, you already had once before.”

“I just wanted to help you.”

“I know that now,” Faith continued, “but the cops got involved and I thought you’d turn me in and leave me to rot. I was sorry, B, I just didn’t know how to say it. I didn’t know what the response would be.”

Buffy thought for a moment. “I guess I really don’t know what my response would have been either. I’m so different now I don’t know what I’d say to you.”

“I’d have been given to the council,” Faith finally looked up at Buffy. “Wes sent them after me, remember?”

Buffy sighed. “We didn’t tell him, Faith. He was eavesdropping. Giles would have never given you to them. He didn’t work for them anymore and after what they had done to me, I never would have let them have you.”

“Yeah?”

“Definitely,” Buffy nodded. “I just wanted you to admit you cared about what happened.”

“I did,” Faith said quietly, “I didn’t know how to admit it.” She took a couple deep breaths and made eye contact with Buffy. “After that, I decided good just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t do it right so I thought switching sides was the best for me, that maybe I could find the acceptance I waokinoking for.”

“And the mayor gave you that,” Buffy concluded.

Faith nodded. “He appreciated me. Sure, he appreciated me because I was good at beating people up and... killing, but still...” she concluded and eyed the blonde for a reaction.

Buffy tried to process what Faith had just told her and looked away from Faith’s penetrating gaze. Finally, she looked up at the younger slayer and shocked her by pulling her into a hug. “So you did all those things to me and the gang because we never helped you get over Alan?” Feeling Faith nod against her shoulder, she brought a hand up and into dark brown hair, holding her head against her shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Faith.”

Faith started to cry against Buffy’s shoulder. “I’m the one who’s sorry, B. I’ll always be sorry.”

Buffy let Faith cry, stroking her hand through her hair, tears falling her eyes as well. After a few minutes, she moved the young slayer’s head off her shoulder and in front of her so she could look her in the eye.

“I know you’re sorry, Faith,” she said easily, “even though I was too stubboo ado admit it, I knew that back when I first went after you in L.A.” She gently wiped the tears off Faith’s cheek. “I was too angry to say anything.”

“I wish you had,” Faith responded. “I hoped you would have seen how much I wanted to prove myself to you. I turned myself in because you told me to.”

Buffy looked at her in astonishment. “That’s the only reason why?”

Faith nodded. “I didn’t know what else to do. I’m not sure what Angel had in mind, I was too messed up to think about it. So when you said I should turn myself in, saying that was how I could take responsibility for what I did, I decided to do that. I was hoping I could make things right with you someday.”

“I wish you would have told me this sooner,” Buffy said, still sitting in front of Faith, “not that I would have listened to you then. But looking back, I probably should have supported you more.”

“You had your own deal in Sunnydale,” Faith said and got a small smile on her face, “what with you dying and all.”

Buffy laughed as both women slowly stopped crying. “True,” she said and paused, then looked at Faith with a grin. “You know what? I’m sorry, you’re sorry, let’s just move on from that. Maybe we can get into detail later, but right now I’m getting hungry again.” She looked over at the clock. “And it’s late. We’re not gonna see any of Boston, are we?”

“We got plenty of time, B,” Faith said and gave Buffy another hug. “I really orryorry,” she said, still thinking Buffy really didn’t believe her.

“I know.”

******

TBC..Í