The Three of Us

Thanks to extraho_puella for the Beta.
Reviews are welcome.
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Buffy and Faith headed out towards Restfield Cemetery. They quietly walked side by side through the streets of Sunnydale.

'She walks like some kind of big cat.' Buffy thought as she stole a glance at Faith striding down the street beside her. 'She looks like she's about to pounce on something.'

"So," Buffy said to break the silence, "Where are you from?"

"Out East" was the reply.

"East what? East Timor, East Indies, East Hackensack?" Buffy snapped as she stared at Faith. "What kind of an answer is that?"

"Okay, I'm from Boston."

"Yeah? I'm from L.A. When my mom and dad split, my mom bought the gallery and we moved here. There's my mom and my sister Dawn and myself."

"Mm-hmm." was the reply. Silence fell over the two as they continued down the street.
Buffy waited for a reply. As the seconds ticked past, she looked to Faith to encourage more of a response. All she saw was the side of Faith's face as she continued down the sidewalk.

"You know that this is where you're supposed to tell me about your family back in Boston and a little more about yourself." Using air quotes, Buffy continued. "It's sometimes called 'Holding up your end of a conversation.'"

"Yup."

Buffy let out an exasperated sigh. "You're not going to make this easy are you?"

"Nope."

"Do you have a family?"

"No." was the flat response. Buffy stopped dead. "What do you mean, No?" she said to Faith's back as she walked away. Faith turned to Buffy and looked at her with a hard, cold, glare.

"What I said, no." Faith looked away from Buffy. "You've either got one or you don't. I don't." She turned her head back to Buffy. "Can we get goin' now? I gotta go find Willy's after patrol." Faith turned and headed into the cemetery, leaving Buffy in the street.

"You can't just drop something like that and then walk away!" Buffy yelled as she jogged to catch up to Faith. "How am I supposed to deal with that?"

"Dunno, just deal. That's all I do" Faith was looking around the cemetery. "Where do you wanna start?"

"Well, we can start with what happened to your parents and then...."

"No!" Faith stepped into Buffy's face. "Where do you wanna start looking for vamps? I'm done talkin' and I need to get moving."

"I usually start here and circle through. Follow me." Buffy said icily. A stony silence followed them as they slowly walked through the rows of graves looking for new ones.
Faith silently cursed to herself as she walked. 'I'm supposed to be makin' a friend and all I'm doin' is pissin' her off. Why do I do that? Fuck...' "Look," she said to Buffy, "I ain't big on small talk, so don't expect to be 'Best Buds' right off the hop. I've spent a lot of time lookin' out for myself and I don't expect that to change. If I've got somethin' to tell you, I will."

"Fine, I'll just wait until you're ready to impart your wisdom to us peons." Buffy said as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Faith. "Any pearls coming soon? Or should I just shut up and wait?"

"You just don't fuckin' get it, do you?" Faith shot back. "I've gotten this far not bein' able to depend on anyone but me. I ain't gonna change overnight, and I still have to learn to trust you."

"What do we have here?" a badly dressed vamp asked as he came up to the two slayers. "Looks like I found a couple of late night snacks!"

Faith and Buffy both stared at him, surprised that he had gotten so close to them. "Hey," Faith said as she turned to him. "Why don't you go and find three friends and then come back and we'll all party."

"What!" Buffy yelled, as the vamp stared at the two of them.

"Think about it." Faith explained. There's only one of him. If he gets three friends, then it'll make things a lot more fun. I'm not really in the mood for sharing just one ya know. I've got lots of frustrations to work out at the moment. If you don't think you can handle it, I'll look after three of them. Okay?"

Faith turned back to the vamp and started to walk towards him. "You do have three friends that would want to party with us don't you?" Her voice had dropped into a low seductive tone. "We could show you a really good time. We'll wait right here till you get back." She was dragging her finger across his shoulders as she slowly strolled behind him.

Buffy just stared at her. ‘Why doesn't she talk to me like that? She's so hot talking to him that way, I want her. Oh God, I've got to get a hold of myself, am I crushing on her?'

Faith had stopped in front of the vamp and was running her hand across his chest as she leaned into him. Whispering in his ear, she said "Run along and find your friends. We'll be right here waiting, and then we'll give you a night like you've never experienced before. Hurry back, 'cause we won't wait long." As her tongue slid out and caressed his ear the vampire moaned and stared at Faith, then looked to Buffy. "I'll be right back." he croaked, then ran.

As he disappeared into the darkness, Buffy grabbed Faith and pulled her around to face her. "What the hell are you doing!"

"Relax B, did you see the look on his face? He almost came in his pants right there!." Faith laughed. She shook off Buffy's grip on her arm and started to stretch. "Come on, let's get ready to kick some vamp ass."

"Tell me what the hell is going on, are you crazy? You just sent him off to go bring some other vamps back here so we can 'party' with them! Are you trying to get us killed?"

Faith furrowed her eyebrows at Buffy as she ranted. "No, one vamp between the two of us isn't worth workin' up a sweat. With four of 'em it'll be more of a challenge, but nothing we can't handle. What are you gettin' so worked up about?"

"They're coming back to feed off us!"

"Nah, they're comin' back to fuck us, then feed. Did you not see that guy? He couldn't wait to get out of here to find his buds. He's like any other guy, get him thinkin' with his dick and he'll do anything for ya. When he gets back with his buddies, act all hot like, and then we'll dust 'em."

"Are you insane?"


"Nope just havin' some fun. They have no idea what's waitin' for 'em, so it should be a good surprise. I can't wait to see the look on their faces."

"I can't believe this! You're acting like this is appropriate behaviour! You may have a death wish but I don't! I should just leave you here alone!"

"Suit yourself B. Won't be the first time I've taken on four vamps by myself. This is what I do. I was born to kill vamps and why dust one when ya can dust four?"

"Fine!" Buffy turned and stomped away. Faith shrugged her shoulders at Buffy's retreating back and watched her go.

'The way she threw herself at that vamp! What a slut! I hope she gets her ass handed to her on a plate!' Buffy was fuming as she continued away from Faith. 'She did look incredible when she turned the charm on. That vamp was so hard he could hardly walk. I wonder what I have to do to get her to talk to me like that. Course, if she gets hurt, she probably won't ever talk to me again.'

Buffy started to slow as she approached the edge of the cemetery. 'Damn. Damn, damn, damn! I can't leave her there, well I could, but it wouldn't be right. I know she can handle herself. Maybe I'll just watch in case she needs help or something.' Buffy turned and started to head back towards Faith. 'It would be kinda fun to see the look on their faces though. And right now I really could use a little slaying to get rid of some frustration.' she sighed as she spotted Faith getting ready to fight. Faith smirked when she saw Buffy returning. "Didja lose somethin'?" she chuckled.

"Yes, my sanity." was Buffy's reply. She shook her head and looked down as she continued. "I can't really leave you out here all alone. I don't know why, but it would bother me. Besides, it might also be fun."

Buffy raised her eyes to see Faith smiling at her. "Thanks, I figger it'll be more fun with both of us."

'Wow,' Buffy thought, 'I could get lost in those eyes. They just look so inviting, I could just melt'

"Hey, B? You okay? You seem to be spacin'." Faith smiled.

"Huh? Yeah! Yeah, just ahh, focusing, that's all, focusing."

Faith smirked at Buffy blushing. "You say so." Buffy watched as Faith sat on a headstone. "Might as well get comfy while we wait." Buffy leaned against the next one and watched Faith out of the corner of her eye. 'God I wish I had her confidence. She just radiates power and sex. She just glides along, nothing seems to rattle her, the whole world could go for shit and it wouldn't faze her.'

"B?" Faith was standing in front of her, "Yer zonin' again. Get ready they're comin' and there's four of 'em." Buffy straightened out and focused her slayer senses to find the vamps.

"Okay," she said "How do you want to handle this?"

"Just stand there and look hot, then wait for my signal."

"How do I do that? I'm not like you Faith." Faith tilted her head at Buffy and stared before blinking rapidly.

"Trust me B, just stand there, Bat your eyes at ' em a couple a times and they'll melt."

Buffy blushed and looked away from Faith. 'HOLY CRAP!!! She thinks I'm HOT!!!'
"B? Don’t zone on me again. How many stakes you got?"

"I only carry one, Mr. Pointy." Buffy replied.

"Mr. Pointy?" Faith started to laugh. "That's just great!" Faith reached into her duster and pulled out a stake. "Here." She handed it to Buffy. "In case you need a backup."

"Thanks." Buffy said as she took the stake and tucked it in the back of her jacket.

As the vamps approached, Faith reached out and touched Buffy's elbow. She felt a jolt run right up her spine. 'Wow, I wonder if she feels like that when I touch her?' "You sure yer ok with this B?" Faith whispered.

"Yup, just give me the signal."

"Alright, you wanna take the two on the left?"

"Okay." Buffy looked to Faith and smiled. 'There’s just something about her that has a weird effect on me.' She thought to herself.

The vampire that had found the girls turned to the other three, "See, I told you they would be here and they're both good lookin'!"

"Yeah," one of the others replied, "They do look rather tasty." The other three all nodded in agreement. Faith moved towards the two vamps on the right. "I'll be lookin' after you two tonight. Your two friends," she pointed to the other two vamps, "can go with her."

Buffy looked at them a smile growing on her face. "Yes, I'll be more than happy to look after ALL your needs."

All four vamps broke out in smiles at Buffy's words. It was going to be a grand night.
Faith slightly turned to the right with a scowl on her face. "What the hell is that?" she said, pointing off into the bushes. The two vamps tried to see what she was pointing at. Faith's boot caught the first one in the side of the head and spun him into the second one knocking both to the ground. Buffy hit one with a right cross that caused him to stumble and fall, then she grabbed the other one and kneed him in the balls. He folded in two and Buffy drove Mr. Pointy through his back causing him to explode into dust. She caught a glimpse of Faith who was trashing the two vampires she was dealing with. Knowing Faith was okay, she faced the first vamp she had hit who was getting to his feet. "Your turn."

"Slayer!" he hissed as his face changed into vampire mode. "Tonight you die!"

"Ooh. Like I haven't heard that one before." The vamp growled and lunged at her, Buffy sidestepped and got him with a fist on the way by. "You're going to have to do better than that." she teased him. He came back at her throwing punches and kicks. Buffy moved left and right blocking the ones she couldn't avoid. "My sister hits harder than you do and she's only 12."

"Fuck you!" he yelled as he threw himself at her. Buffy grabbed him as he made contact and let herself fall to the ground. Using his momentum, she flipped him over onto his back and straddled him. She pulled a stake out from the back of her jacket and rammed it into the vamps chest. She coughed a couple of times as the dust cleared. She looked around for Faith, but didn't see or hear anything. "Faith?"

Faith's head popped up from behind a headstone two rows over. "Yeah?"

Buffy sighed in relief, "You ok?"

"Five by five, B. You?"

"What?"

"I'm okay B." She shook her head and dipped down behind the headstone again. Buffy furrowed her brow, 'What is she doing?', and walked towards Faith.

"Whatcha doing?" she asked as Faith was hurriedly stuffing something into her duffel bag.
"Jesus! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Faith shouted. Standing up, she looked away from Buffy, "Uhh, nothin', just ahhh, tidyin' up, that's all."

Buffy looked around where Faith had been kneeling, "You always clean up after you dust somebody?"

"Ha, Ha. Shall we continue with the patrol or head back. I still have to find Willy's tonight."

Buffy tilted her head and smirked, "Yeah right. Are you old enough to get into a bar?"

"Don't worry about me, I can get anywhere I wanna go." Faith picked up her duffel and turned to leave. Buffy sighed and shook her head as she watched her leave. 'One second we're getting along like best friends, the next it's like she's never heard of me. I don't understand.'

"Wait Faith, I'm coming." She jogged to catch up to her as she was making her way to the entrance. "You were right Faith, I did get rid of some frustrations tonight."

"Good." The two of them walked through the quiet streets of Sunnydale, back to Giles' house. Buffy would occasionally glance at Faith and wonder what the other girl was thinking. She felt comfortable beside her, but was curious as to what was behind the mask and how she could reach it. 'That's me, always worrying about someone else. There's just so much about her I want to know. I've never been this curious about anyone before. I know all about Willow and Xander, but that took years, and it wasn't what drove our friendship. It just happened. With Faith, I want to know everything right now. But she's not like that. It'll be interesting to see if I can get her to open up.' With a half smile on her face and Faith beside her, Buffy realized she hadn't felt this good with someone in a long time.