Riposte // Willow & Faith
She felt stupid doing this. Almost desperate. Faith wasn’t the kind of person who sought out help. She wasn’t the kind of person who sought out anything really. She just sort of went with it. In a situation like this, she figured she could just go with it too. It didn’t really matter for her with Buffy being the Slayer that everyone cared about, the one everyone listened to and idolized. Faith had always been cast out and she was used to it. It was something she’d learned to deal with a long time ago. That wasn’t why she needed to have this conversation. Faith was tired of being left in the dust and not having any clue what was happening with the Scoobies even though she really wasn’t sure if she wanted to associate with them or not. That was a constant internal battle she hadn’t won yet. No, this had to do with the fact that she was a Slayer just as much as Buffy was a Slayer and just as much as all those little used-to-be Potentials were. Since Willow did that spell channeling the scythe’s energy, Faith had felt that the scale of things was a little off. When it was just her and Buffy, things had been a lot more balanced…well, as balanced as things could be when they weren’t at each others throats.
Now that every girl who could be a Slayer actually was a Slayer, it felt like overload. Faith was getting little snapshots of their lives in her dreams and it was more than disconcerting. It was kind of awkward for one, the fact that she was seeing what these girls were doing without even knowing them. But it was also extremely worrisome because Faith knew they needed to find these girls and help them. They were out there with no direction at all, no Watcher to show them how to protect themselves from danger. Faith had been Watcherless for some time, but that was by her own accord. Her own dangerous accord. Those girls weren’t like her. At least she hoped.
Digging out her cellphone from the back pocket of her jeans, Faith cleared her throat as she found the contact at the bottom of her list. She knew this would come completely out of the blue, but these thoughts had been pressing at the front of her mind for way too long since they’d gotten to Italy. Well, since their last day in Sunnydale actually, but Faith was trying to forget that day. It had been stressful, upsetting, exhausting, yet also victorious once they finally reached safety and realized they had won.
I’m coming over. Sorry for the short notice.
Clicking the send button, Faith realized that since she was almost at the apartment anyway, sending the text now was practically useless. She was still trying to get used to the whole “polite” thing and matching it with the “courtesy” thing. At least she wasn’t as bad as Anya.
Faith wasn’t too sure if this was a good idea or even what she would say once she got there, but she couldn’t sit around any longer pretending to know what was up with the Slayer line and being okay with it. She just hoped Willow wouldn’t kick her out or have to call Buffy over for protection or anything. She didn’t really have much of a reason to trust her, but Faith had changed, no matter if the Scoobies couldn’t see it or not.
Arriving at the apartment, Faith stood outside for a moment, looking down at the sidewalk and pacing a few times. She wondered if Buffy would mind that she was seeing her friend about Slayer stuff without telling her. She wondered if she would get mad. But then again, when wasn’t Buffy mad at her? Lifting her fist to the door, Faith knocked a few times. “Hey, Red, open up.” And then she waited.
