Disclaimer: Pixies told me that I really don’t own Btvs, it’s sad but the Pixies, they don’t lie.

Author’s note: Happy Birthday to my Fab beta, Bloodytearsoflife. You rock! Some time soon hopefully I’ll get your prezzie all written up.

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Chapter 6: Frustrating

Buffy, clad in normal Faith bar hopping clothes, stalked through one of Sunnydale’s many cemeteries, twirling her stake between her fingers. She’d staked only three vamps so far, trying to keep her quips down to a minimum and the ones she had let loose were full of innuendo.

Faith’s loner lifestyle was certainly not up to Buffy’s quality of life standards. She’d only experienced one day so far and she was already bored with it. She missed going to her classes, she missed Willow and, surprisingly, she missed Spike.

As if on cue, there was a puff of smoke wafting into view. Buffy’s heart started to do that pitter patter thing that she had recently come to expect with Spike’s presence. Slipping her stake into her waistband, she stalked towards the smoke, finding Spike behind a tree, as he watched two figures a couple of hundred yards away.

“You stalking my other half?” she asked coming up behind him. “Should I be jealous?”

Spike removed the cigarette from his mouth and exhaled. “No,” he spat. “Just having a look out for the witch and the Slayer with your nose. Got to look out for your nose, pet.”

Buffy smiled, and took the cigarette from his fingers, taking a drag. She really tried not to cough this time though.

“You gonna tell me what this is all about?” he asked, looking her up and down.

Buffy stared back, trying not to let her worry come through. He was clearly noticing her clothes.

“Embracing my evil side?” she noted hopefully. “I told you today was going to be different.” Buffy took another drag of the cigarette in her hand before handing it back to Spike. “You wanna patrol or are you gonna brood like Angel?”

“Oy!”

Buffy smiled up at him. So Faith, and so appropriate, she mused to herself.

“Then let’s go already! I’m itchin’ to get all stake happy with the vamps,” she declared, taking the stake out of her waistband.

“Ya?”

“Yep, gonna put the hurt on a few dozen vamps before this slayer’s itch is scratched.”

Spike chuckled to himself a moment before turning his attention to Willow and Faith on the other side of the cemetery again. “Sure pet, you’re the Slayer and all.”

“Damn straight,” Buffy noted with a smile, grabbing Spike’s hand and leading him out of the cemetery. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
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It hadn’t taken long to get to Shady Pines, and to find themselves a group of vamps. With abandon, Buffy left Spike to stand on the sidelines as she took out five of the seven vamps without pause. She stuck her stake into the sixth, her breathing heavy, to see Spike stake the seventh with an annoyed look on his face.

“I’m still waitin’,” he muttered, looking at her as he absently brushed the vamp dust from his coat.

What Faith had told her last year was right; slaying did make you horny and hungry. Right now, Spike looked awfully good. Buffy knew exactly what Faith would do in this situation, jump Spike. Buffy knew what she would do too, head back home and indulge in some fat free yogurt.

She was supposed to act like Faith.

Buffy put her stake away, and stepped up towards her vampire friend, and boy was she nervous. This could make or break, well, everything.

“I’m waitin’ for you to take me dancing,” she said finally, chickening out.

Spike looked back at her with sceptical eyes, but followed her when she took his hand and led him from the cemetery.

She was trying to convince herself that she hadn’t chickened out, she’d merely chosen another Faith like plan. Faith did like to whore it up at the Bronze.

“Are you off your nutter?” Spike asked as he followed along behind her, once he knew where they were going.

“No,” she responded, “but I wanna go dancing, and if you don’t dance with me I’m sure I can find someone else to dance with.” Buffy let her lower lip jut out, full on pout mode and dropped Spike’s hand.

Sure, the pout wasn’t Faith like but if Spike didn’t dance with her, she was going to have to whore it up with some other guy who maybe wouldn’t take no for an answer. Some other guy who wasn’t Spike.

He couldn’t resist the pout, no matter whose nose she had.
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Faith on the other hand was not having fun. Ever since she’d agreed to this whole thing, she’d been tied to Willow and forced to deal with Buffy’s mundane life. Maybe she’d have to rethink this having B’s life thing.

Willow had immediately taken Faith to the dorm room, told her what to wear, some conservative practical bull shit, in Faith’s opinion.

Oh, she’d tried to protest but really that whole resolve face thing that Willow had going on, wicked scary.

So dressed as B, hair done like B, Willow forced some books into her hands and headed out the door, not bothering to look back.

Which hadn’t been a problem for Faith. Well, not until that bindy spell thing put the whammy on her. Faith jerked towards the door, her hands forcibly clutching the books.

As Faith was pulled along behind Willow and down the hallway, she could hear Willow giggling up ahead.

“Hurry up Faith. We’ve got 20th century history.”

Faith groaned.

Sitting in the class had been horrible. Willow had kept elbowing her to take notes. Faith was certain that Willow was going to bruise her ribs. Another reason Faith didn’t have the Willow love, no slayer powers.

As the class let out, Faith got up and stretched.

“Are you going to feed me, while you are pulling me around by your magical leash?” Faith asked trying to sound jovial, but really not happy with the situation.

“Yep, of course,” Willow said smiling. “Lunch time now.”

The two headed out of the lecture hall and towards the cafeteria and directly into the path of one wandering initiative solider.

Willow put her hand on Faith’s arm, making the other girl look over at her.

“’Kay, Riley’s up there, Buffy is not happy with Riley right now, in fact, they broke up,” Willow explained.

“And you’re telling me this because?”

“’Cause you are supposed to act like Buffy.”

“Why’d she break up with her stud muffin?” Faith asked with a smirk.

“’Cause you slept with him. ‘Cause he didn’t know it was her. ‘Cause he hit her.”

“Wow, I really ruined their relationship, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did.”

“Well, colour me all happy,” noted Faith, earning her a look of death from Willow.

“Hey, Willow,” greeted Riley finally coming into hearing distance. “And, uh, Faith?” he asked uncertain.

“Hey,” Faith greeted back, her arms crossed.

“Do you guys know where Buffy is?” the solider asked looking hopefully between the two of them.

“Probably holed up in a motel somewhere sleepin’,” observed Faith.

“She didn’t go to class?” he questioned.

“No. Look, Riley, I don’t think now would be a good time to try and get reconcily with Buffy,” noted Willow. “Please just leave her alone for now. At least wait until she’s all back together.”

Riley nodded. “I…I can do that. What I don’t understand is why she is mad at me. It seems to me that this is all your fault,” he said pointing at Faith.

“Hey!” protested Faith backing from Riley. “You didn’t have to all groiny with me.”

Willow’s eyes shifted, looking around at the gathering crowd as Riley and Faith’s voices started getting louder and louder.

“Uh, guys…” Willow started, trying to calm them down. “Guys!”

It was no use though, Riley blamed Faith for his problems with Buffy and to give her credit, Faith was being a very good argumentative Buffy.

“And I probably wouldn’t have had to get myself off if I had done the vampire like I wanted to,” yelled Faith.

“Spike?” Riley nearly gasped.

“Size does matter,” the slayer retorted.

“Time to go!” interjected Willow, grabbing Faith’s hand and pulling her towards the cafeteria.

“Hey!”
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“Good job by the way,” praised Willow as she munched on the apple she had purchased from the cafeteria.

“For what?” asked Faith. “Not killing him? That’s what you expected right?”

“No, well not really. I figured that you’d at least try to get along with people before you wanted to be all stabbity. And the congrats was for the Buffy like acting.”

“She would have got all up in Riley’s face too?”

“Oh ya.”

“Good, some things are worth being a prude about,” she mumbled, taking a bite of her lunch.

“Buffy’s not a prude!” exclaimed Willow in defence of her friend.

“No?” asked Faith reaching for the diet coke that Willow had made her buy with Buffy’s food card. “Explain to me how B’s not a prude then? You’re all with the inside information.”

“Uh…”

“Ya, thought so.”
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“If you took away all my slayer powers, then why do I have to patrol?” asked Faith as she followed Willow through Restfield cemetery.

“’Cause it’s what Buffy’d do,” Willow answered automatically.

“That’s crap. B wouldn’t be out here without her powers. She’d be at home snuggled in her safe bed.”

“You are not going anywhere near Buffy’s mom,” Willow declared turning around to face the Slayer.

“Ya, she’d probably be waiting with an axe. Threatening to kill someone is not the greatest way to get reacquainted and all.”

“Are you even sorry you did it?” Willow asked. “’Cause hey, all it did was get you all messed up, well physically, which hey, you were all messed up mentally before. Are you sorry?”

“Nah, not really. Give me a couple of days. It’s all hard. I woke up from the coma and I knew that I was bad. Maybe it’s one of those self fulfilling prophecies that your professor was taking about.”

“I don’t want to hear it. Either you’re sorry, or you’re not. And clearly, not.”

“It is was it is. I’m not trying to make it out like it’s anything different.”

“Just stop,” Willow yelled into the night sky.

Faith was extremely frustrating.
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Tbc…