Secondary Characters 2: Halloween

Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfic. Part two of Secondary Characters. Buffy finds out that Faith is back in town.
(Faith/Buffy, Anya/Amy)

Read Secondary Characters 2: Halloween

Disclaimers: The characters of BtVS does not belong to me, which is quite obvious as I wouldn’t have done certain things to them, but anyway, not mine and no profit made. You know, the basics.

This is the second part of a series of short stories that I call “Secondary Characters”, beginning with, amazingly enough, Secondary Characters, so reading that first might be a good idea though it might also work to read this on its own. ^_^



Secondary Characters 2: Halloween
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by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson




It was Halloween in Sunnydale.

Normally, Halloween would be the one day in all the year that no mystical things occurred, a holiday for all those who were involved in the darker, hidden side of the world. But this was Sunnydale, home of the Slayer and the Scoobies, so somehow something always managed to happen during Halloween despite longstanding traditions.

Richard Wilkins had convinced his group of young wards to celebrate the holiday in a more common, more family, way, preparing for trick-or-treating children and just generally have fun.

The fact that the Goonies more than anything resembled the Adams family did not escape them, and so, after some arguing back and forth on the subject, the Wilkins Manor was prepared for the Halloween treat of the year.

Richard spared no expense. The Manor was completely decked out in the appropriate decorations, a spooky and thrilling maze had been arranged in a part of the building for visiting children, outlandish-looking candy was everywhere, and… everyone wore a costume.

Richard himself was dressed up as a mummy, though with pristine bandages, and took turns with Larry, who had just worn different clothes to look like Frankenstein’s monster, in opening the door for the roving little bands of trick-or-treaters. Amy was a werewolf girl and Anya came dressed up as a she-devil, spending most of the evening flirtatiously trying to coax the flustered werewolf into selling her soul to her, while Harmony ended up as a rather prudish-looking witch. Jonathan dressed up as a cross between a mad scientist and a hunchback, complete with a robotic hand that could run around like the Thing, and made the children squeal in delight. Faith was dressed up as a goth vampire, which was as far as she would go in terms of a costume.

Children from all over flocked to the Manor, and while it was exhausting, the Goonies all agreed that it was also a lot of fun.

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Faith ended up on the lawn in front of the Manor, flexing her muscles and showing off her strength a bit to a group of little girls, whom she was trying to impress with the knowledge that little girls could be everything little boys could be… and succeeding admirably.

She actually had a lot of fun chasing the rugrats around on their way out the gates, so she didn’t pay as much attention to her Slayer-senses as she normally would. She remained behind a moment longer to wave goodbye to the little band of witches, vampires, fairies and warrior princesses, as Larry lumbered back into the house. It wasn’t until she was alone and turning back towards the house that she felt it.

The shiver at the back of her neck. Eyes that burned into Faith’s suddenly sensitive skin. An extra set of emotions, surging just underneath her own, sometimes mixing, blending, confusing. The echo of another heartbeat rumbling through her own chest.

Her.

She was there.

Faith spun around, eyes wildly searching for the figure that would be as familiar to her as the one that stared back at her in the mirror every morning. Involuntarily, her muscles tensed up and she widened her stance, preparing for the attack.

A light rain started to fall.

It was as if she just materialized there, out of nowhere. One moment there was nothing, the next she was standing there, looking smaller and thinner than Faith remembered. A small, solitary figure standing there, on the grass, in the rain.

They stared at one another for a long time. Or maybe it just felt like a long time, Faith wasn’t sure. But staring at her Faith thought she looked not only thinner, smaller, but also so fragile… lost. Broken. Slowly her body relaxed, even if it was but a small fraction.

“Faith.” The other whispered, her voice filled with unreadable emotions.

And Faith cursed herself as that treacherous, useless, unwanted little lump of flesh in her chest sped up and trembled, just hearing her name whispered by that voice. Fear or hate she could handle, just not… that. She never could handle… that.

“Buffy.” And Faith hated herself for the longing in her voice.

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It was starting to rain in earnest.

The door opened, revealing Larry’s hulking form in the rectangle of cheery light. “Hey, aren’t you coming in yet, Faith? I’ll eat all the eyeballs myself if you stay out here much longer, and you’ll end up without any!” He teased in a rumbling voice, not really looking up from peeling the peanutbutter treats in question.

“Hey Faith, come on in, we’re gonna start playing those games now… ‘cause there probably won’t be more kids out ‘n about this late anyway.” Amy sounded eager as she poked her head out the door under one of Larry’s arms. Unlike Larry though, Amy caught the situation in a single glance.

“Lurch, Ames, I…” Faith spoke up, wanting to say something to keep the others inside the house, and out of harms way just in case. She never got that far.

Amy growled loudly and dashed outside, coming to rest crouching just slightly behind Faith and facing Buffy, one clawed hand gripping deep into the damp soil and the other glinting in the lantern light outside. She was ready to charge, to fight at Faith’s side, if it came to that.

Larry’s yelp of surprise when Amy rushed past him alerted the others, and within moments Anya materialized on the lawn while the others scrambled out the door.

“Anya? What are you…” Buffy asked slowly, blinking in surprise. She looked around at the other assembled before her. “Jonathan? Harmony? …Amy?” She squinted her eyes in Larry’s direction. “Oh my god, Larry?!”

“Guys… just go back inside, please.” Faith said quietly, her eyes never leaving Buffy.

Nobody moved. Then Anya eyed both Faith and Buffy speculatively, and nodded.

“You know Buffy, you’re the intruder here. If you start something it’ll be on your head, got it? We were all just having som holiday fun, not harming anybody.” Anya warned while she walked over to Amy and pulled the taller girl to her feet. “And if you cause trouble, the Goonies will take care of their own.”

Then Anya ushered everyone back inside the house, leaving Faith and Buffy alone in the rain. Neither spoke for a good long while.

“Goonies?” Buffy asked, the corner of her mouth twitching a little, as if she had almost intended to smile.

“Yeah.” Faith said gruffly. “I have friends of my own now.”

A flash of hurt passed over Buffy’s face, and Faith wanted to kick herself for causing it. Then she wanted to kick herself for thinking she wanted to kick herself.

Silence.

Suddenly Faith felt very tired.

“Look, B…” Both their emotions surged at the casual use of the familiar nickname. “it’s late, it’s wet, and frankly I’m tired of all the crap. You really wanna go down and kick the shit out of each other?” Faith sighed deeply. “Fine. Just… do it, then.”

“If not…” She pulled a hand through wet curls. “go home. Or come inside, and lets just pretend to be like, you know, human to each other for a while.”

Buffy seemed to hesitate.

“It’s his house, isn’t it? What’s to say that if I go in, I’ll be allowed to get out again?”

That stung.

“Screw you.” Faith bit out between clenched teeth. “You come here, to this house, and think you have a right to ask that? We didn’t do anything to you and yours this time around.”

Suddenly Faith walked over to stand close to Buffy. “Out here or in there, if there’s gonna be any fighting, it’ll be because you start it. Dad won’t, the guys won’t… I won’t. It’ll be all you this time.”

“So what’s it gonna be?”

Buffy just looked at Faith for a long while.

“Dad?”

“Uh, yeah, well… he adopted me.” Faith was a bit unsure of what was going on, why did Buffy look like that, like she was tired of the fighting too? Why did she sound so gentle when she spoke to Faith, like she might actually…care? “Got me outta that place, too. So I’m Faith Wilkins these days.”

“I’ve got to admit…” Buffy looked away, almost like she was embarrassed. “I never figured you had a father-daughter kind of relationship. Sure, I knew you loved him, but I thought…”

“You thought I was – “ Faith’s chagrined outburst got interrupted by Buffy covering Faith’s mouth with her hand, smiling sheepishly.

“Aa!”

Faith chuckled. “I was going to say ‘sleeping with him’ B, nothing more… crass, allright?” She gave Buffy a loopsided grin. “He threatens to wash out my mouth with soap if I don’t watch my language around him, I guess it’s sorta rubbing in. Well, a little anyway.”

They ended up smiling at one another for some time. Faith felt her heart pound away in her chest like the bugger had gone absolutely crazy, what was going on here?

Then Buffy took a tiny step forward on a trembling breath, lips slightly parted and eyes misted with longing, and reached up to bury her hands in Faith’s hair. Faith heard herself whimper just a little as she was pulled down to meet Buffy’s lips with her own.

It had taken them so many years to reach that one moment, the moment that both had, despite ignorance and attempts at denying the truth, felt was inevitable from the first time they met. And despite all the pain, all the madness, the moment had finally arrived.

The heavens marked this occasion by lighting both Slayers with the first and biggest lightning strike of the night, then the sky opened wide, pouring down in primal fury.

They didn’t notice.

By the time the ground quaked and the air rumbled with the thunder, Buffy and Faith were already on the ground, rolling and squirming in wet grass, soaked to the bone but completely oblivious. They were too busy kissing, tasting, touching… uniting.

When finally even Slayer lungs needed air they broke apart, gasping and trembling. Faith shook her head to clear her mind, desperately trying to get her equilibrium back, but then Buffy decided to remove the rain from Faith’s face and neck with her tounge, and with a moan Faith was lost.

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Hours later the thunder had stopped, but the rain was still pouring down in sheets. Faith opened the door to the Manor as quietly as she could, pulling Buffy in behind her. Faith was wearing her skirt and her bra, and Buffy was wearing Faith’s jacket and nothing else, both of them holding wet, dripping and utterly ruined pieces of clothing in their hands.

The house was mostly quiet and dark, although they could faintly hear the sounds of someone, most likely Larry and Jonathan, playing a videogame not too far away. Sneaking through halls filled with Halloween decorations and most part of the maze that was still standing, Faith and Buffy made it upstairs with only one small detour to grab a bag of candy that Faith had stashed away.

They both giggled a little as they crept around the corners to reach Faith’s room without being seen. They had almost made it when a door opened a few paces down the hallway they were in, and Richard Wilkins came out, wearing a green flannel pajamas and holding a mug in one hand.

Reacting quickly Faith shoved Buffy towards a door, mouthing the name ‘Ames’. Both girls dashed into the room and quickly shut the door behind them, leaning against it while listening to make sure Richard did not discover them after all. They listened until they heard his door close once again, and then Faith opened her mouth to speak.

“Do you two mind!”

The annoyed voice belonged to Anya, and made Faith and Buffy both spin around to face her…

…in bed with Amy, both of them stark naked and obviously very, very busy.

Buffy gasped, and Faith couldn’t contain a half amused, half surprised snort. Anya, more than a bit flushed and tousled, glared at them but was fortunately too rattled at the moment to remember that she had powers, while Amy was biting her lip, hard.

“Faith…” Amy panted heavily and whimpered. “…love ya buddy, glad for ya, tell me all about it in the morning, but right now… for the love of god… get OUT!”

This time heedless if they would be discovered, Faith and Buffy dashed out of the room and straight down the hall to the door Faith indicated. They slammed the door shut behind them, took one look at one another, and broke down in giggles.

Then the giggling petered out, and they were left staring at one another.

Buffy was throughoutly drenched, had grass and mud all over, and her hair was completely snarled… and Faith had never seen anything more beautiful.

Buffy glanced around. “So this is your room? Wow, there are apartments smaller than this... and it has all the amendeties, too.” Eyeing the small workout centre in one corner, then looking at the opposite end of the huge room, where Faith’s entertainment centre was located. “Think I could get adopted too?”

Faith moved in and moulded herself against Buffy’s back, slipping her hands into the opening of the jacket.

“If you were… we wouldn’t be doing this. Wanna trade?” Buffy gasped and arched into the touch. “Didn’t think so.” Faith chuckled smugly.

“Wanna see the bathroom?” She whispered into Buffy’s ear. “It’s got a killer sunken tub…”

Buffy moaned, then spun around, grabbed the front of Faith’s skirt, and proceeded to doggedly drag the younger Slayer towards what she assumed would be the bathroom door.

Faith laughed.

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Many hours later when the sky had started growing light again and morning was not far away, Faith lay in her bed pensively staring into the ceiling instead of sleeping, running her fingers lightly up and down Buffy’s naked back. The other woman wasn’t sleeping either, and frankly, that was making Faith terrified.

Get some, get gone.

That’s the way it had always been, right? Faith had learned not to expect more, not to ask for more. But…

But.

She was terrified that Buffy would just get up, sneak into what was left of her clothes, and disappear into the growing morning light. Making the night’s events nothing more than a strange, wonderful dream she had better forget quickly if she wanted to survive.

She wanted to sleep, but if she closed her eyes now, and Buffy wasn’t there when she opened them again… Faith didn’t know if she could take that.

“Is there a disturbance in the Force, Luke?” Buffy asked, sounding slightly sleepy. “Your heart is going a mile a minute here” gently tapping the chest her head was partially resting on “and your emotions are all over the place.”

That had been… beyond amazing. Their Slayer bond had become so much stronger during the night, until they could no longer tell where one of them ended and the other began, who was feeling what, and it just got stronger and stronger until the slightest touch was sheer ecstasy. It didn’t just blow Faith away, it completely shattered the world as she knew it.

“B… what are we doing?” Faith spoke quietly. “What is this?”

Buffy didn’t answer.

“I mean, is it the one-time-only fluke kinda thing, or is it… could we be…” Faith had trouble expressing herself. “…more?”

Buffy sighed, and Faith felt the knife that was forever twisting in her gut move up to stab in her heart as well.

Faith turned on her side, moving away from Buffy a little. A heartbeat later and a hand touched her arm.

“Naw, forget it.” Faith told Buffy, hating herself for the thickness of her voice and the lump in her throat. The stinging in her eyes and the way her words just couldn’t seem to sound casual, indifferent, like she wanted them to. Like she needed them to. “Got it right the first time.”

“It’s not like I thought I could ever be good enough or anything, ya know? Worthy?” Faith snorted bitterly at herself. “Don’t worry though, your Scoobies won’t find out that you went slumming.”

The hand on her arm had frozen, then suddenly it moved again, and Faith found herself tossed over onto her back again, hard. Faith clenched her jaw.

“That’s more like it… gonna hit me now?” Faith clasped her hands above her head. “Go ahead.”

“No, NO!” Buffy looked pale and upset as she rolled on top of her. “Will you just listen for a while, allright?”

They stared at one another for a long moment, then Faith relaxed slightly and Buffy took a deep breath.

“I don’t know if you were told, but I… died, a little more than over a year ago when…”

“You think I needed to be told?” Faith growled out angrily, teeth ground together so hard her molars might crack under the pressure. “With our Slayer bond, you think I needed anyone to tell me you were gone?”

“Did you think this was some kind of fashion statement?” Faith touched the strange thick single white lock on a head of dark brown curls. “I got this the night you…” Faith swallowed, having a hard time getting the words out. “…when I felt you… go, it just happened.”

“I didn’t know it then, ‘cause I kinda went nuts in there… screaming, trashing the place, you name it, but when I sorta came back to my senses again after the drugs they’d pumped into me, it was there.” She pulled at it a little. “It won’t dye either.”

Buffy looked at her with a haunted, shadowed expression, then leaned in and placed a tender kiss on Faith’s head over the snowy-white lock.

Then she leaned in, resting her forehead against Faith’s. Buffy’s dishevelled blonde hair became a veil that covered Faith from the world as Buffy spoke, slowly, sometimes haltingly, in hushed tones about what had happened to her after her death.

She spoke for a very long time, and Faith held her through it all.

Buffy spoke of it all. The resentment and betrayal she had felt towards her friends for what they had done, her desire for the peace she had found in death, how her feelings seemed locked away… how she watched her best friend go to her ruin and did nothing to help. How she stood by as that best friend was destroyed and another loved person was lost forever, and felt only elation because as the world around her shattered, Buffy found some trace of emotion inside herself again. She told Faith about how she knew she had come back wrong, no matter what Tara’s magic had been able to tell.

And she told Faith about Spike.

“…and now I see all those times I said no to him, that I tried to fight him, stop him, and he didn’t… he didn’t stop… he kept hurting me, and I let him. Oh god, I kept letting him!” Buffy wailed into Faith’s shoulder. Wrapped in the younger Slayer’s strong arms Buffy Summers could finally cry, and she did, for all her pain, all her shame, and for all of herself that she had lost along the way.

Unseen by Buffy, Faith had gone pale as a ghost, face rigid and eyes staring unseeing and unblinking into the dark ceiling.

While she listened to Buffy, a small part of her mind was occupied with images that flashed by.

A knife at her throat.

A rasping voice telling her how worthless she was.

A mother’s betrayal.

Pain. Guilt. Shame.

Faith growled and blinked the images away, crushing Buffy to her chest.

“He dies!” Her voice was tight with barely contained fury. “I don’t care whatever reasons anybody might have to keep him around, if I ever come across him again… he dies!”

Buffy nodded slightly against Faith, she was long past the point where she would protect Spike. Way past.

Faith’s anger thrummed through her own senses, and Buffy rejoiced in it like she did in all the emotions she felt through their link. It was for her, not at her, and like all Faith’s emotions it buffered her slowly healing soul, just like the warm, strong arms seemed to do where they were wrapped tightly around her. Slowly the sobs stopped.

“So you see Faith… even though I want to, even though I feel so much more here with you than I have for so long… I don’t know if I can give… more.” Buffy’s voice was quiet. “Even though I want to, I can’t promise love everlasting and serious relationships, because I don’t know what that is anymore. I don’t know who I am anymore, I don’t know what I’m feeling, what I’m thinking, what I’m doing… and I don’t know if my heart will still beat tomorrow.”

“I can’t tell you where we’ll go from here.” She trailed her hand across Faith’s collarbone. “But can’t we just… let it go from here? Can we just take it as it comes, a day at a time? See what it becomes for us?”

“Yeah.” Faith whispered. She understood. “We can. And we’ll make it work, you’ll see.”