Faith hadn’t expected Buffy’s watcher to be the school librarian. But then again, tweedy English guys were probably more suited to the job than anyone. He was a little surprised by the new slayer’s arrival. His flustered performance of remove glasses, clean glasses, rinse and repeat couldn’t hide the fact. But he was all business like and supportive. Or at least that’s what came across.

He got on the phone straight away to the council, assuring Faith he would find out what they intended to do about the situation. Faith wasn’t sure she wanted them to do anything. She just needed to find her place in the world. The prospect of a new watcher - with rules and regulations - didn’t really appeal to her. She had rarely done anything her last watcher told her.

Buffy slumped down into a creaky wooden chair in the middle of the library as Faith shuffled about trying not to feel uncomfortable, out of place, and down right edgy. She looked around, taking in her surroundings rather than the cute little blonde who was at present rummaging through her rucksack.

The various shelves were filled with old books that were probably never read by anyone, at least not anyone with a life. They made the place seem old and impressive. As she glanced around Faith noticed a strange pattern on the floor. It was like some kind of big circle or something.

Without really needing to ask Faith blurted out, “Shit, is that it? The hellmouth?” She stood where she perceived the portal to evil to be.

“Yep, that’s it. Source of demon thingies and the like. That’s why Giles is here really. To keep an eye on it,” Buffy nodded.

“Fuck, that’s freaky.”

“You certainly have a way of putting things, Faith,” Buffy chuckled and moved her bag from the table as Faith sat down in the chair beside her.

“I just tell it like it is, B.” Faith lifted her feet onto the nearby table, clunking down her heavy boots on the already scratched surface.

Buffy gave her a quizzical look, possibly wondering about the apparent new nickname she had just received. Before she could put voice to her puzzlement Giles came back out of his office.

“Well Faith, it seems the council had been err. . .classing you as a rogue slayer as they had no idea about what had happened to you or your watcher. I’ve explained the circumstances of your departure and they are going to get back to me with regards their plans. It seems they’re a little bit at a loss with what to do with you now,” Giles declared.

“Thanks, G man,” Faith said with a nod.

“Excuse me?” he said, looking equally as puzzled as Buffy just had.

“It’s ok, Giles. Seems Faith likes giving people nicknames,” Buffy pointed out.

“Oh, right. Anyway. . .it would be best for you to stay in Sunnydale until the council come to some kind of decision,” he suggested.

Faith looked down at the floor, doing her best to hide any sign of emotion. She was being treated like a problem again, something to fix. When she had been called she had really believed things would change for her, improve at least. But things never really changed, they just shifted locations. She stood up, smoothing down her leather pants and standing tall.

“I’ll let you know the number of the motel I’m staying at. Thanks again.” Faith headed towards the door, not wanting to stick around in the stuffy library.

Suddenly she felt the overwhelming desire to get out in the open and to get away. Giles just nodded and made his way back into his office. Faith didn’t turn around to look at Buffy or say goodbye before she left. She didn’t want to wait around like a spare part, and right now that’s exactly what she felt like. She was the slayer, but Buffy was still the chosen one. Faith hadn’t realised she was going to feel like this once she had found her. It was pissing her off now. Just once she had wanted to feel needed, but apparently she wasn’t high on anyone’s list of priorities. She didn’t count. No, things never really changed.

Faith left the school building as quickly as she could, she was seriously thinking of just leaving Sunnydale altogether. If she wasn’t needed then what the fuck was the point in hanging around? She didn’t know the answer to that one. She did know that she wasn’t just going to sit back while somebody thousands of miles away decided how to stick a square peg into a round hole.

“Faith, wait,” a voice behind her called.

It was Buffy, jogging to catch up with her.

Faith spun around, unable to clear the anger in her eyes. “Wait for what? Christmas?”

“Giles didn’t mean for it to come out like that,” Buffy assured. Obviously she had picked up on the same vibe Faith had.

“It doesn’t matter how it came out, B. It doesn’t change the fact that I just don’t fucking count. I mean, why should I? They’ve got you.” Faith started off walking again.

“Hey, you do count. You’re the Slayer, Faith; I’ve just been doing it longer that’s all. Forget about the council. What do they know about anything anyway, right? They’re just a bunch of tweeds living halfway across the world, with no clue about what it’s really like to be a slayer.” Buffy sounded pissed off.

Faith stopped walking again and closed her eyes, trying to get control of her anger.

Maybe she had made the right decision in coming here after all. Buffy had basically voiced Faith’s own opinion of the council. And Buffy was the only person who understood what it meant to be chosen. Faith turned to face her.

“I’m sorry, it just got me pissed off.” Faith didn’t know what else to say, her emotions were running high. She found herself dealing with just too much.

“It’s ok, I understand. Well, some of it. The whole. . .you’re the chosen one deal with it thing, and then your watcher getting killed. I know how it feels.” Buffy reached out to Faith, touching the younger girls arm gently.

Instead of pulling away this time, Faith allowed the contact. Looking up into Buffy’s shimmering eyes, what the small blonde had just said registered.

“You mean. . .you lost a watcher? I didn’t know, I wasn’t told that. I’m sorry,” Faith said softly.

Buffy let her hand slip from Faith’s arm and turned away slightly, eyes staring at the cracks in the pavement, distant pain resurfacing a little.

Faith didn’t allow Buffy to turn too far, and before she had time to think about it she grasped the older girl’s hand in her own. Buffy didn’t attempt to pull away, which Faith was grateful for. Not one for grand tactile gestures. . .this was new to Faith.

Faith fought to ignore the hot tingling sensation arising from their embracing hands. It wasn’t too hard. What was harder to ignore was the sensation between her thighs, currently screaming for attention, and the fluttering in her stomach. It was intense, just standing there holding onto Buffy’s hand. Faith didn’t want to move but she knew she had to, it wasn’t fair on the other girl and she was well aware of that.

Buffy looked deep into chocolate brown eyes, her lips slightly parted as if she were waiting for something to happen; anything. Faith clenched her jaw and let go, not permitting herself to even dare think about what Buffy had been waiting for. She took a cleansing breath and fixed her shield back into place.

“Hey, screw it. You wanna grab a drink?” Faith asked.

Buffy blinked a little at Faith’s sudden change. She appeared to be a little baffled. Maybe she had felt the tingles too, in more than just her hand.

“Yeah, I’ll buy. I know a good coffee place.”

“Cool, ‘cause I don’t have any money.” Faith smiled broadly, lifting the tension and causing Buffy to smile right back at her.

Faith was fairly confident that no matter what the watchers council decided, or what she was going to do from here on in, she had done the right thing finding the cute little slayer currently walking beside her.

The two girls made their way to a nearby coffee shop and spent over an hour talking about their lives. Well, it was mainly Buffy telling Faith about why she had moved to Sunnydale and the existence of the scooby gang and such. Faith had not said much - or anything really - about her life before being chosen. She didn’t want to bore Buffy with the details of her shitty youth after all.

Faith liked keeping her cards close to her chest. People couldn’t mess with you if they didn’t know what buttons to press, so she made sure nobody found out what her particular buttons were. Although during the conversation Faith found herself wanting Buffy to push various other buttons of hers.

Try as she might, Faith couldn’t help but be enthralled by the witty little blonde. She found Buffy could be pretty funny, if a little prudish and uptight. But Faith didn’t think it would take much for Buffy to loosen up. And even though the younger girl kept telling herself not to think of Buffy as being anything other than a possible friend, she couldn’t help herself.

It seemed Buffy must have found something likeable in Faith also, as she invited her to join her and the scooby gang out to a club called the Bronze that night. Of course Faith accepted, even though getting chatty with what seemed to be a bunch of nerds wasn’t really her thing Buffy would be there. . .and that was good enough. Besides, she thought, it might just be a good place to pick someone up. She was suddenly itching to get laid.

* * *

It hadn’t taken Faith long to decide what to wear for the evening. It’s not like she had a great deal of choice. She stuck with the trademark leather pants, but went for an even more revealing top. It was dark red and seemed to boost her cleavage; basically saying ‘I look hot and I know how to give you a good time’, which was true.

She made sure she smelled nice and spent longer on her makeup than usual. She wanted to look good, and nobody could deny that she did.

She had arranged to meet Buffy in the club at around 8. It was now 8:30. Faith always did like to make an entrance and being late would ensure that to some extent she would. She made her way into the darkness of the Bronze, surreptitiously exploring the crowd with her deep dark gaze for the little blonde she had put so much effort into getting ready for. As she turned to walk over to the bar Faith spotted Buffy in amongst the other revellers. She was dancing, and Faith was now rooted to the spot.

Dancing around Buffy was a red haired girl and some geeky looking guy, but Faith’s attention was firmly on Buffy. She was wearing extremely tight black jeans that hung low on her hips. Her top also looked to be fairly tight; in fact there wasn't really much of it to speak of. The silky white fabric covered the front snugly, but left most of her back exposed.

Faith decided it wasn’t going to be an easy night. She would have to work exceptionally hard in order to hide her attraction to Buffy. It crossed her mind to just turn around and walk back out and maybe go and take her frustrations out on some unsuspecting vamps. That idea was erased from her mind as she noticed how Buffy was scanning the throng outside the circle of dancers. She was looking for somebody. Faith suspected - with a jolt of jealousy - that it was probably Angel that Buffy was searching for. She suspected it then instantly forgot what it was she was thinking about as Buffy locked eyes with her.

The broad smile that erupted on the blonde girl’s face brought out an almost equally broad smile on Faith's. Then Faith remembered who she was and it ended in more of a sexy grin. There was no way she was going to get away with not being naturally flirty tonight, try as she may.

Buffy fought her way off the dance floor, dragging two puzzled scoobs along with her as Faith made her way towards them. The two slayers barely broke eye contact as the tingling sensation from earlier shot along Faith’s spine. She practically groaned with how good it felt, like when you sneeze but more so; kind of a mini orgasm almost. She was definitely liking it even though she knew it would wear off a little after a while.

They reached each other by the bar, neither one of the slayers appeared to know exactly what to say. Even hello seemed to elude the husky tones of the younger girl. She was too busy being lost in those green eyes.

Faith had decided that they were definitely more that colour than hazel.

Buffy was looking just as lost as Faith. Staring in silence.

“Umm, hi, I’m Willow. You must be Faith.” The red head extended a nervous hand towards Faith, who at first didn’t quite register what she had said until she mentally kicked herself into gear.

“Yeah, that’s me. I’m the second string slayer,” Faith said with a tad more rancour than was probably called for as she shook Willow’s hand.

Buffy gave her a funny look.

They had spoken about how Faith was more than just a back up slayer earlier, but Faith couldn’t quite get away from the feeling. She shrugged her shoulders a little and resolved to be a good girl for the night, or at least try to be. After all, from the sounds of it Buffy’s friends were very important to her. So if she pissed them off she would be pissing Buffy off too, and she didn’t want to do that.

“I’m Xander.”

The guy had the goofiest grin plastered on his face that Faith had ever seen. It was obvious what was going through his mind. Faith. Naked.

Buffy slapped him on the arm, causing him to wince a little.

Faith shook both their hands, then she remembered that there was another one of them she hadn’t met yet.

“So where’s what’s her name. . .Cordelia?” It was Faith’s attempt at being polite and interested.

“She’s doing some kind of cheerleader thing tonight,” Buffy answered.

Faith’s eyebrow shot up at the mention of a cheerleader being part of the gang, not knowing that Buffy had also tried her hand at that particular pastime. The thought of girls jiggling about in very short skirts landed Faith’s mind firmly in foot in mouth mode.

“So, does she wear the skimpy duds out dusting vamps?” The suggestive inflection of her voice and mischievous grin and eyebrow bounce spoke volumes. She so wished she could have taken it back, but it was too late.

Xander’s bottom jaw practically bounced off the floor, and Willow’s face decided to emulate the colour of her hair perfectly. Buffy turned a little pink and busied herself looking for a table, pretending not to hear or understand.

“We should go sit down. . .there’s a table over that way. Guys?” Buffy pointed over to an empty table and began making her way over to it.

Faith thought it was probably best not to dig herself a deeper hole by repeating the ignored question, or even acknowledging to herself that she had asked it. She was meant to be trying to fit in not freaking them out. And with the exception of Xander, who just looked like he was picturing things best kept to himself, they did look freaked. Another slap to Xander’s arm warned him not to delve into the cheerleader comment, and Faith was grateful.

As Buffy and the other two made their way to sit down Faith made for the bar. She needed a drink. In fact, she needed several. It wasn’t that she was unduly bothered about them knowing she liked girls just as much as guys - or more so if truth be told - she was just worried that it would distance Buffy from her. Faith really didn’t want that to happen.

With her drink in her hand she situated herself at the table with her new found friends. They were busy talking about a particularly difficult slay the blonde girl had had recently. Some hellish demon or other it seemed.

Without recalling that placing her foot in her mouth was not a sensible thing to do, Faith chimed in, “Isn’t it crazy how slaying just always makes ya hungry and horny?”

Xander half coughed and half spluttered as he and Willow looked over to Buffy for confirmation.

“Well. . .sometimes I crave a. . .non fat yoghurt afterwards,” Buffy stuttered, a little flustered.

Faith couldn’t hide the smirk she knew was plastered on her face.

She shook her head slightly as Buffy tried to give her a menacing stare as a warning not to take it further. Faith took a long drink and dropped the matter, for now at least. Obviously there were things Buffy kept hidden from the scooby gang; either that or Faith thought maybe it was just her that suffered that particular trait.

Faith made a promise to herself not to say anything else stupid and settled on relaying a few slaying stories of her own, and commenting on various loser boyfriends she had once had. . .to throw them off the scent of thinking she was a raving lesbian. Not that she was ashamed of being attracted to women, especially the cute blonde she was having trouble keeping her eyes off. She hoped Buffy hadn’t noticed her interest.

It wasn’t long before Willow was forcing Xander back on to the dance floor, leaving the two slayers alone together. Faith would have loved to have joined them in their revelling but she was finding it far more pleasant sat next to Buffy. She realised this was a good time to bring up a couple of things with her fellow slayer, not least the whole hungry and horny business.

“So. . .this whole tingling thing I’m feeling around you, are you getting it too?” Faith asked, hoping she had made more sense than she thought.

“Yeah, it’s kinda weird. I mean, not in a bad weird way, but definitely not ya know. . .normal.” Buffy looked over shyly at Faith.

Faith could almost feel the heat coming from Buffy. She wasn’t sure why the little blonde seemed so nervous, but it was something to hold onto.

“Did you get that with the other chick Kendra?” Faith was genuinely interested, having never met another slayer before.

“No. . .well, not really.” Buffy glanced from Faith to the dance floor and back.

“Huh?” Faith’s playful smile and puzzled frown wasn’t hard to miss.

Buffy chuckled and explained. “It was different with Kendra, a lot less. . .intense. It was more like your standard ‘something not quite normal is near by’ feeling. Not so,” she paused, “. . .nice I guess. What does it feel like to you?”

“Nice would be one way to describe it I suppose.” Faith didn’t want to confess to it bordering on turning her on just in case Buffy thought she was some kind of nut. Instead, she continued with her questions. “And what about the electric shock therapy when we touch?” Faith looked away quickly as she imagined touching the small blonde in more than just a platonic way.

“I can’t ever remember actual physical contact between me and Kendra. She was a little uptight. You could say she was quite possibly the complete opposite of you.” Buffy’s glinting eyes caught her fellow slayer into them once again. “So, Faith. . .as we’re in question and answer mode and we’re both slayers and all. Practically cosmically joined, hence all the tingling and stuff. Are you. . .and you don’t have to answer but I just thought I’d ask in case I say something out of turn or something. . .”

Buffy was babbling fairly obviously, although Faith stupidly didn’t have a clue what was going to be asked until Buffy finally spat it out; Faith almost choked on her drink.

“Are you gay?” Buffy blurted out. “I mean. . .the cheerleader comment. I was going to ignore it but hey. . .it’s best to be honest right? I just don’t want to presume anything or. . .not.” Buffy was blushing at her own forward question, although by the end of it she seemed a little less convinced about whether or not she should have asked it.

Faith attempted to swallow the gulp of her drink that was currently doing its best to end her short life. She just about managed, and tried to compose herself. She didn’t want to lie to the other slayer. She had lived by lies in the past and knew nothing good ever came of it. Honesty was the best policy. Well, in most situations that is. She surmised that this was one of those situations because it had to be if she was to gain the trust of Buffy - and her friends - and she really didn’t want to lie to her.

Faith sighed a little before turning to Buffy. “No. . .” Buffy was about to interject but didn’t get the chance. “I’m. . .fuck, I don’t know. You could say I was bi or something I guess, if you have to put a label on me that is. I don’t much care for labels and shit.”

Faith tried her best for it not to seem like a big deal. The thing was. . .she was scared of pushing Buffy away. Even though she hardly knew her, Faith wanted to be in the loop.

“Ok, cool,” Buffy said softly with a shrug.

Faith smiled broadly at Buffy, she couldn’t help but. She just hadn’t expected the infamous slayer to be bothered so little about what she had just disclosed.

“What?” Buffy asked, looking a little confused at Faith’s toothy smile.

Faith shook her head then decided to slip in one more question before the two scoobies returned.

“So anyway, Twinkie. . .are you telling me you don’t get just a little hungry and horny after a slay?” Faith lent forward ever so slightly, her body language unable to mask her interest.

“I never quite said I didn’t, Faith.” Buffy took a sip of her drink, acting as coy as she possibly could.

“So you’re tellin me you do? Come on, B, spill.” Faith eyed her new friend with intensity.

“Ok, maybe a little.” Buffy allowed her gaze into Faith’s eyes to stay just a little longer than necessary. It wasn’t lost on Faith and she couldn’t help but feel happy about it.

“So I guess soul-boy helps you out with that huh.” Faith couldn’t help herself, it just slipped out. She realised she was already feeling jealous about Buffy’s relationship with Angel.

Buffy looked away into the crowd, avoiding the statement. She suddenly seemed deflated and down. Instantly Faith regretted saying anything about Buffy’s lover.

“Sorry, B. Me and my big mouth. Just ignore me, it’s none of my business.”

As if deciding then and there that she knew Faith well enough to open up to her, Buffy turned her sad eyes to her and told her something she didn’t want to hear. Faith didn’t want to hear it because it meant there were fewer restrictions to her attraction to the older girl.

“I’m not with Angel anymore. We split up last week. Nobody knows, well, except you now,” Buffy disclosed.

Faith wasn’t sure whether to feel honoured at the gesture of friendship. She had no idea why Buffy would tell her something like that and not the scoobies.

“Sorry. I. . .” Faith began, not really sure what to say.

“It’s ok. It was for the best. I mean, we didn’t really have a future together and things had been falling apart for awhile.”

Faith could see that Buffy wasn’t exactly ok with it.

Without thinking about it Faith reached over and gently squeezed her fellow slayer’s hand. The tingles didn’t deter her from allowing the touch to linger, and Buffy made no move to shy away from the contact, until Willow and Xander returned from their dancing.

“Hey guys, I think I’ve finally worn Xander out,” Willow gushed.

Faith bit her tongue, but not hard enough. “What, you’re telling me I missed out on all the action? What am I gonna do now for a good ungh?”