Chapter 25 - Moves

Buffy was dreaming.

She was in an apartment. A nice apartment. Big windows, fluffy bed, stylish sofa.

“Yeah, I might’ve had a little accident over by the Bronze.”

A brunette girl was talking on the phone as she lay sideways on the bed, her booted heels carelessly scuffing the walls.

“Just a guy. He was getting grabby.” A pause. “I know, I know. But hey, if you don’t wanna take care of it, I’m sure my boy—” A longer pause. “No, he doesn’t know anything. He’s a good screw, but you know I’m with you all the way.” Pause. “Nah, he doesn’t play well with others.” Another pause. “You will? Great! Thanks, sugar daddy——fine, thanks boss. I promise, no more accidents. Right. Later.”

The girl hung up the phone and jumped off the bed with a bounce. She noticed Buffy after a moment and smiled.

“Don’t fuck up like I did, ’kay?”

-----

Wesley looked surprised when she entered his office.

“Buffy. I didn’t expect to see you until tonight. Are you well rested from your night off yesterday?”

“Yes and no.” She sat down on the opposite side of his desk and folded her arms. “I think you need to tell me about this Slayer of yours. The one who nearly killed you? I had another dream last night. She murdered someone, didn’t she?”

He sighed. “Quite possibly. What did you see?”

“Dark hair, heavy makeup, skanky dresser? Right. Well, she was talking on the phone to someone about cleaning things up, like I’m thinking a body. And she mentioned sleeping with someone else. Then she looked at me and said not to mess up the way she did.”

He was silent.

“Is she like warning me or something?”

“It’s possible, though certainly not in her nature. Or wasn’t when she was alive, anyway. More likely the dream is simply a message or a glimpse of the past, using the previous Slayer’s image as a conduit.”

“Okaaay. But whatever. Someone or something is trying to show me things, and I need you to tell me what happened.”

Wesley closed his book. “Unfortunately, I don’t know everything. No one does, except the involved parties.” He sighed again. “Her name was Faith. She was sent to the Hellmouth—”

“The hellwhat?” Buffy asked. “Never mind, I can see that’s a story for another day.”

“She was sent to deal with the vampires there in the summer of last year. I arrived shortly afterward to be her Watcher. There were problems from the beginning.

“Faith had quite the cavalier attitude towards her duty and was only interested in Slaying when it suited her. She would disappear for days or even weeks at a time. We tried to enroll her in the local school when it started in the fall, but she hardly ever went to her classes. She very casually said that being the Slayer, she could do whatever she wanted. She loved the hunt, and she loved the kill. Faith loved her power, and was likewise drawn to power.”

“Not the good kind of power, I’m guessing,” Buffy said.

“Indeed. Sometime, she began a sexual relationship with one of the town’s most dangerous vampires. It had apparently been going on for months when I found out about it. I confronted her at the end of last year on behalf of the Watcher’s Council, which was nearly a fatal mistake on my part. Afterward, I was fired by the Council.

“The Council’s special operations unit was sent to retrieve her. By this time I had left, but the movement of the unit is always news. They never returned, however. The Hellmouth has a way of making things not return, particularly as of late. She might have killed them herself, but it’s more likely that she had help.

“From what I heard recently, she got my replacement killed and disappeared herself soon after.” He paused. “As you’re here, apparently it didn’t work out well for her. I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you. But if you wish to know more, I will contact the Council for you, loath though I am to do it. Or I could give you the number of Mr. Giles. Although he never dealt with Faith as a Watcher, he was working there during that time. He won’t know what happened to her, though; I doubt he even knows she’s dead yet. But he might have more information on her more recent actions.”

“Uh-huh. Well, she sounds interesting.”

The phone suddenly rang.

“I’ll let you get that,” she said, standing. “See you for patrol later.”

“We should talk more. If you have any questions—”

“No, that pretty much summed it up. Later!” she called, already halfway out the door.

Wesley picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Mr. Wyndam-Pryce, it would have been a courtesy to let the Council know you’ve located the next Slayer.”

He paused as he realized this was a trans-Atlantic phone call.

“Yes, well. The Council has been severely lacking in courtesy.”

“Come now, Wesley. We know you’ve been showing her the ropes. And while we will assign her a proper Watcher, we’re willing to let her remain with you for the time being.”

“I see. So what do you want?”

“We want the Slayer to be what she should be. After the debacle with the last one—”

“What do you want from me?”

“Now now, no reason to get testy. We’ve got time for a nice long chat, I think.”

-----

When Buffy got home, her mother was in the kitchen fixing a pasta and vegetable dish. Buffy dumped her purse on the counter and opened the refrigerator.

“Hi, honey. How was your day?”

“Fine.” I just found out the previous Slayer was some sort of slut with no morals. Oh, and she’s haunting my dreams. Though it might not really be her.

“Well, I’ve got some news.”

“Good news or bad news?” she said absently, pulling out a yogurt. The fridge door shut behind her.

“Good, I hope. Or maybe both, it depends.”

Buffy paused. “Mom?”

“I had an offer on the house. It was just a few days ago, but it looks like everything is going to go through.”

“That was fast.”

Joyce laughed. “I’ve severely under priced it. But a bird in the hand, you know. It’ll take a while to get the paperwork done, but the family seemed very interested and very happy with everything.”

“Well, that’s good, right?”

“Definitely.” She paused, handing Buffy a spoon. “But here’s the part that might be bad. I’ve had a job offer out of town. I’m thinking of moving. It’s a nice town, and the living expenses are cheaper than they are here. I know it would be fast, but a gallery has offered me a position starting at the beginning of the year.”

“Oh.” Buffy frowned. “So you’d be leaving.”

“Well—and here’s where it gets crazy—I was thinking we could go together. I know, I know, you probably don’t want to move and live with your mother. You’re an adult now, and you’ve got your life here. But Sunnydale has a nice university, and I thought it would be a good change after everything that’s happened. You could go to school, and—but if you want to stay in L.A., I understand. I’ll pay for a dorm for you, or help you get your own apartment.”

“Wow,” she finally said. “That’s just, a lot to take in.”

“Don’t make up your mind overnight. But think about it, sweetie?”

Buffy nodded as she sat down at the counter. Maybe it was something to think about.

-----

Later that evening, Buffy went back to the office to meet Wesley and Fred for patrol. After gathering everything up and heading out, she was somewhat irritated to find Spike loitering by the office door. Abruptly she realized that her ever-present tingles were probably because of him. Which then made her wonder why he had been following her for so long.

But determined not to give him any encouragement, she walked past without speaking and went about patrol as if he weren’t there. He hung back, but followed her the entire evening.

Whenever she happened to glance in his direction—because she was so not looking—she would find him staring at her intently. Whenever she dusted a vampire, he would slowly clap, much to her annoyance.

However, it wasn’t until a fight with a vamp who had obviously been a street punk before he was turned that Spike had approached the group. The fight had turned particularly ugly when Buffy was caught off guard as the guy pulled a knife and managed to slice into her shoulder. Spike hadn’t lifted a finger to help—not that she wanted him to—but immediately after she dusted the vamp, he slipped up on her from behind.

“Bleeding again, Slayer?”

Before she realized what he was doing, Spike had his mouth fastened on her shoulder, and was sucking away like some sort of…sucking thing. When she turned, he met her eyes unashamedly, leeringly. Part of her knew she should push him off, but that part didn’t seem to be in control of her body.

After a moment, he pulled back and gave her an appreciative smile before kissing her lightly.

She could taste her blood on his lips.

“Later, love,” he breathed, before walking away.

Buffy had the feeling that something horribly intimate had just happened. In front of two other people, no less.

Fred was nervously glancing upward, apparently very interested in the fire escape. Wesley was a horrified statue, staring blankly ahead as if he were too stunned to process what he’d just seen.

On second thought, maybe it was just plain horrible.

Oh crap.