// Five Things That Never Happened to Faith
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and Angel are not mine and belong to Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century Fox, Mutant Enemy. They are used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
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Feedback is incredibly welcome.
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For Moira. Series spoilers (various); also spoilers for Angel: After the Fall #1. R for language.
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1
Faith watched as Angel turned away from the murdered cashier. He still had yellow eyes, fangs, the bumpy forehead; his hands shook and he panted rapidly, like a dog who's been out too long in the sun. But he was shaking his head over and over again. "No," he started saying under his breath. "No, no, no, no, no."
Next to her, Angelus was frowning. "This isn't the way it happened," Angelus explained to past-Angel, very patiently. "Would you hurry up and dr--"
Faith, never one to turn down an opening, took the opportunity to sock him. He dropped like a bag of bricks.
She could have sworn that past-Angel looked up at her and smiled.
2
Faith should have realized that Wesley would be an early riser. "Yo," she said without deviating in the path she was tracing around the Hyperion's lobby.
"I thought you were taking the bus to Sunnydale," Wesley said. "I'd offer you a lift, but..."
"I'm not going," she said.
"Pardon me?"
She shrugged uncomfortably. "Willow said that Buffy's got a whole legion of these baby Slayers. And B's always been good at landing on her feet. You guys, well, I can't trust you not to screw things up." She put a little bit of a lilt in her voice, so he would know she was joking. Mostly. (Angel had a son? Who was almost as old as she was? She was never going to let him live that one down.)
Wesley raised an eyebrow. "We do what we can, Faith," he said, almost kindly.
3
Faith watched in astonishment as Angel kicked the last of the goons into submission. She admired the economy of his moves. "Nice," she said.
"Vampire reflexes are good for something," Angel said darkly.
She held out her wrists again. "You know, if you unchained me, I could help you"--let's see, he was a goody two-shoes, so probably no killing--"tie them up." Although really, non-Slayers who were dumb enough to try to get the drop on a vampire deserved to die.
"I really wish I could, Faith."
If he patted her on the head, she was going to rip his fucking heart out, chains or no. But he didn't, only crouched next to her. "It's not that it's wrong to be"--he searched for a word--"faster or stronger than other people. But it doesn't make you a better person."
Then, to her utter astonishment, he unlocked her from the wall. She could have taken him out then, but she was curious, so she didn't. "This place is obviously not safe for us anymore," Angel said. "Let's see if we can't get you to somewhere else."
"How are you going to explain to the cops that you've got a chick on a chain? Sunnydale isn't that pervy."
"Car," Angel said.
For no reason she could explain, then or later, it thawed something in her to learn that Angel, a vampire, had a convertible. And that not even Buffy had known about this convertible.
4
Faith had never been into that girly shit at school, painting each other's fingernails and passing each other notes and wearing matching socks. Except...this was Buffy. And for some reason, B's bubblegum cheerfulness made all of that fun, not stupid. And hell, B's mom tried to make Faith feel at home, even with the awkward moments.
Naturally, this led to Faith sleeping over at Buffy's place for the weekend. And giggling under the covers while telling each other stories that would have turned Joyce's hair white.
"No, seriously, what was sex with a vampire like?" Faith wanted to know.
"Faith!" Buffy whispered. She bit her lip, and for a second Faith regretted asking. "I mean, it's not like I have a lot to compare to..."
Faith raised an eyebrow.
Buffy blushed again. But there was a serious light in her eyes. "I miss him so much," she said.
Well, okay, Faith didn't have to be Deanna fucking Troi to know how to respond to that. "Must've been rough," she said. She started to rub Buffy's shoulders. Damn, the girl was tense. Her hair smelled nice, though.
So Faith listened as Buffy told her about Angelus, and Acathla; told her about sending Angelus to hell. "I kept hoping he'd look up and recognize me," Buffy said, "just for a second, at the end. Willow told me she tried to put Angel's soul back, but she just couldn't get it to work."
Faith kept making reassuring noises, and they fell asleep curled against each other, dreaming entwined dreams.
5
Faith has spent enough time being counseled while in jail, thank you very much, but she's not crazy. Well, not any crazier than she has to be. But she's sure she didn't make up the city of Los Angeles. B thinks she's crazy for chasing after this city. "Look," B says, very reasonably, "Angel might still be alive, but in some mystical city that no one else has heard of? I don't know..."
"It's not mystical," Faith says, which doesn't impress B because Faith has already mentioned things like mini-apocalypses and evil law firms. So Faith takes off on her own, guided halfway by Google and halfway by the weird-ass dreams she has about dragons and demon lords.
She ends up in a bar in Pasadena, which she could have sworn is right near where L.A. used to be, except nobody here has heard of L.A., either. Until the night she looks up and there's this woman with blue hair and blue eyes that could freeze the sun.
"I understand you have been looking for a city," the woman says without preamble. She has a low, dispassionate voice.
"Yeah?" Faith says, mishearing her. "Don't swing that way, baby."
"A city," the woman repeats. "I have been scouting the paths between dimensions in search of a way home. You have been one of Angel's allies in the past, correct?"
The couple flirting next to them are looking at them kind of funny, but Faith is used to that. "You and me, I think we might have common cause," Faith says. She doesn't trust this stranger, exactly, but she sure looks like the kind of ally that Angel would pick up. Faith downs the last of her beer so she can concentrate on the stranger's story in earnest.
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