After her loud question, he awoke with a startle, ready to fight. He realized it was just Faith, "What?!", he asked, confused.
"Are you awake?", she repeated.
"I am now", Spike said resentfully.
"Cool", Faith said, then casually took a seat across
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"Are you awake?", Faith asked Spike.
He was laying down, his eyes were closed, and he was snoring at the time. After her loud question, he awoke with a startle, ready to fight. He realized it was just Faith, "What?!", he asked, confused. "Are you awake?", she repeated. "I am now", Spike said resentfully. "Cool", Faith said, then casually took a seat across |
| from him. Since he met back up with Faith, Spike had been sleeping in the basement of the hideout Giles and Xander had been at. It was nice and dark down there. "Is there something on your mind, Faith?", Spike asked, after a long pause. "No.", Faith said. There was a pause again, "Why did you come wake me up then, Faith?", Spike asked politely. |
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"Hey, I just asked if you were awake. You could have
said no!", Faith argued, but smiled, showing she was being bratty on
purpose. "Spill it Slayer. What's going on in that head?", Spike asked. "I don't know. I guess I just wanted to talk, that's all." "Ok, well, talk then" Faith paused again. "You're not good at this, are you?", Spike asked. |
| "No, I guess I'm not. I never really had a lot of friends
to just sit and shoot the shit with, you know?", Faith admitted. "I do", Spike told her. "So the little world that you guys had here in Sunnydale sure got rocked pretty fast.", she said. "It did", Spike said. It was clear the events of the past few weeks lay heavy on his heart. "Do you think things will ever go back to the way |
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they were... or do you think all this stuff will change everybody
forever?", Faith asked Spike was struck by the sincerity of her query. He knew there was more to it, " I don't know really. Do you think you've changed from all this?" "Do you think I have?", Faith shot back. "Well, I don't know. I mean there are some changes I can see, such as discarding your usual black denim for what is that... mink?", Spike noted. |
| "It's too damn hot is what it is", Faith quipped,
as she took of the jacket, "Yeah, ok... my fashion sense has become
a little more... upscale. I'll admit that" "Are there other changes?", Spike asked. "Mmmm, I don't know. I think there might be. I got a lot of power off Mesmotto, you know? I mean, for a while there, I could make anybody do anything that I wanted. That's pretty heard to go cold turkey from that kind of power, you know?", Faith asked. |
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"I bet it would be", Spike empathized. "I'll admit, it kind of burns me up that Buffy still has that power and I don't. It's kind of like she's 'one - upping' me somehow, ya know?", Faith asked. "No, that I don't know. Buffy is enslaved to a netherworld slimebag. You have your freedom. It seems like you have the upper hand" "Yeah, I guess. It just... well, me and Buffy have always been exact equals on the power front and now the |
| scale is tipped in her favor. I just hate that she's better
than me at ---", Faith stopped herself. She could see Spike was not
seeing her point. "Enslaved to a Netherworld slimebag", Spike emphasized again. "Right. Got it. Not worth it", Faith said, then looked for a way to change the subject, "Hey, can I ask you something that might be a little bit... sensitive?", she asked him with a smile. She also crossed the room and |
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sat next to him on his cot. "How come you guys never went and got Angel to help you out of this mess?" "Giles didn't want to risk someone getting inside his head, turning him evil, etc.", Spike said. "Yeah, that makes sense. If you think like Giles does. How come you didn't want him involved?", Faith probed. "I just told you" |
| "You told me why Giles didn't want him. My guess is you're
afraid he's going to save the day." "Bollox! You really think I don't want the day saved? You think I like seeing Buffy as some kind of sex slave? You made me admit how I felt about her before. You know where I am with that!", Spike protested. "Hey, chill Blondie... I'm not saying you don't want the day saved, I'm just guessing there are certain ways you don't want it saved.", Faith said. |
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"Such as?", Spike asked. "Such as Angel coming in, getting to Buffy, pumping out some long speech like, 'It's me Buffy, it's Angel, I love you, you can fight this', and all of a sudden, when in the arms of her true love, she breaks Mesmotto's spell once and for all, proving the only thing that could free her was true love, proving that only Angel could free her, proving he is her true love and you never will be", Faith said. |
| "Alright. I'll admit, that would suck", Spike said.
Faith laughed at his candor. "Ok, cool. But seriously, you, me, Giles, and Xander have been butting our heads against the wall for a few days now, and we still don't have a good plan of attack. In fact, we have no plan of attack. And by the way, remind me again why the plan can't be to just go and attack?", Faith said. "Man, Giles was right, you are just like Buffy, she'd |
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just want to burst in there and kick some ass too. But, like
you she wouldn't stop to think about what might happen. She wouldn't think
about the fact that her friends would die before they would let her near
Mesmotto", Spike said. "Ok, stop right there, I could cold clock that Anya chick with one punch and she'd be down for the count. She'd have a sore jaw the next day, but she'd be alive" "Maybe, but what about Buffy. What if you were to |
| fight her. If she had no problem with killing you, her fighting
style would be quite different you know, and hard to combat if you were
trying to use non-lethal methods.", Spike argued. "Ok, well, what if you and Giles hold her off just long enough for me to go chop off Messy's head?" "And what's to say you'd even make it within ten feet of him without falling under his spell. Then, once he has you, not only am I dust, Giles is dead, and he's won" |
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Faith knew he was right, but couldn't resist the temptation
to hit him with a pot shot, "Spike, can I ask you something else?",
she said sweetly. "Sure", Spike said, thinking it was a heartfelt expression of her insecurities. "When did you become such a pussy? I mean, it's nice that you're talking to me and all, but you're like a chick! I mean, damn man, do you want to go to the mall and braid each other's hair? Strap on some balls, will ya?", she said with a smile |
| Spike didn't even try a comeback. "Bloody hell",
he moaned, "don't tell anybody about this then." "And if I do?", she flirted. "I'll rip your throat out and pull your intestines through the hole.... there, is that better?" "Slightly", Faith laughed. "Faith... Spike, are you down here?", the two heard from the top of the stairs. |
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"Hi Giles", Faith greeted, still giggling, "we were just
discussing the pitfalls of Spike's recent castration", she joked. |
| Spike said nothing, but did crack a smile. "It started coming off when they put that chip in his head, but then when he fell in love with Buffy, she pulled the rest of it clean off and put it in her bag of weapons", Faith teased. "Spike, you're in love with Buffy?", Giles asked, confused. "Excuse me! Can we get back to business here", Spike said, "What's up with the witches and the |
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lamplighter?", Spike asked, desperately hoping to change
the subject. "Right.. Whitelighter actually, and yes, he wants to make contact with me" "What's a whitelighter?", Faith asked. "It's sort of a spiritual watcher for witches. They have healing powers, and they watch from an elevated spiritual plane... but they are usually not allowed to involve themselves in anyway...", Giles explained. |
| "So, he's like the mystical equivalent of you... but
more hands off?", Faith summarized. "Uh, yes, that's accurate...simplified, but accurate.", Giles answered. "How do you know this isn't a trap?", Spike asked. "Yeah, how do we know that Buffy, or the witches didn't put the whammy on him, getting all up inside his head?", Faith asked. "Well, I don't actually", Giles admitted, "that's where. |
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you two will have to come in " "What's the plan?", Spike asked. Both he and Faith had rid themselves of the giggles at this point. "Faith, you stay with me when we meet him. If he tries anything, maybe we can at least capture him and get some info. Spike, you stay out of the area. If anything happens to Faith or I, we need you to keep fighting.", Giles ordered Both Faith and Spike agreed. Finally, a plan was starting to form. |