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CHAPTER 48: Bad day to be a friend
It was one of those late mornings when the sun just couldn’t manage to pierce its way through the clouds and chase away the rain no matter how hard it tried. It probably wouldn’t last; at this time of the year, morning rain wasn’t all that unusual and often gave way to warm sunshine later on during the day. Not that it would matter one way or another to the blonde woman lying in bed. Buffy stared blankly at the ceiling, her mind empty and her heart heavy. Next to her, Faith was fast asleep, wearing the same clothes as the night before, only they were a bit more rumpled, her shirt wrinkled by her restless tossing and turning. Faith stirred, slowly turning on her back and stretching her stiff muscles with a groan. It had been a bad night in every sense of the word and it had left her feeling raw inside. The rhythmic patter of the light rain against the window served to increase her headache and she shut her eyes, hoping to fall back into oblivious sleep. Of course, she couldn't be that lucky. After ten minutes, she gave up.
Faith sat up slowly, trying her best not to wake the other woman, but a brief glance told her that Buffy was already awake. An uneasy feeling seeped into Faith’s heart at seeing her like this, her face expressionless and her eyes unseeing. But the brunette quickly got herself under control, offering her best fake smile. God knows she didn’t feel like smiling.
“… Hey B.”
Buffy didn’t move, her gaze still fixed on some imaginary spot on the white ceiling. Her mouth was dry, her eyes burning, and she had nothing to say or nothing she wanted to think about. She knew Faith was talking to her, but she’d have to think in order to answer and she didn’t want to.
“Hope I didn’t kick you too much last night.” Faith kept talking, pretending not to notice Buffy’s lack of reaction. “I was told I’m a real fighter when I sleep. Robin woke up with bruised ribs and shins more than once. I even caught him sleeping on the couch once.”
Seeing that she still got nothing from Buffy, Faith sat up completely and swung her legs out of the bed. “I see you’re not in a talking mood so I’ll just leave you alone for a while. I’ll go make some breakfast in case you feel like eating.”
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Faith looked over her shoulder at Buffy, but didn’t really expect an answer. So she stood up and made her way out of the room, all the while hoping Buffy would snap out of her strange mood and join her in the kitchen. But she doubted that would happen. She looked worse than she did the night before. At least then she’d been crying and talking. Now she just looked… dead.
Faith looked in the cupboards and refrigerator for something to eat. At first, she wanted to make a real breakfast for Buffy, but since she obviously wasn’t going to come out of her funk anytime soon, she decided against the idea. She probably wouldn’t enjoy my cooking talents anyway, Faith reasoned. Since she’d be the only one having breakfast, she opted for the cold slice of left over pizza and a can of soda. Not the breakfast of champions, but it would do just fine.
She sat at the breakfast counter and started munching on the pepperoni pizza while trying to come to terms with what had happened the day before. Buffy didn’t seem to be coping well. No way anyone could blame her, but Faith still couldn’t help wondering what to do to help her friend. She was afraid that Buffy and she weren’t close enough for her presence to be of any help. And she needed to leave in only a few hours. Her shift at the prison started at seven. She’d normally call in sick, but they were short staffed tonight. Faith popped the can of diet coke open and took a long swallow, looking outside thoughtfully. The sky was starting to clear and a few rays of sunshine were already starting to dry the wet lawn. Memories of the party Buffy had thrown a few months ago in her back yard invaded her mind. That day, she’d played it aloof, but she’d been so happy just to be invited and be considered one of Buffy‘s friends. She‘d had a good time.
That made Faith clue in on what she should do. She suddenly stood up and walked to the kitchen with purpose. Opening every drawer, she looked for Buffy’s address book. It had to be near a phone somewhere. There was a phone in the kitchen, the living room, and Buffy’s bedroom. So it had to be in one of those places. She felt guilty for looking through Buffy’s personal belongings, but it was a necessary evil. She finally found what she was looking for in the little side table next to the couch in the living room. The antique-looking table had a drawer, and in it Faith found a black address book.
Her first instinct told her to call Buffy’s mom, but as she was dialing the number she quickly hung up, unsure of her decision. Her impulsiveness had gotten her in trouble more than once before and she didn’t want to do something stupid that would cause Buffy more anguish and pain. What if she hadn’t told her mother about all this? The relationship between Buffy and her mom was open, from what Faith had seen, but would she really tell her mom that she was having an affair with a prisoner and was pregnant? Buffy seemed like the kind of good girl who wouldn’t want to disappoint her mom, so there was a fair chance she wouldn’t share that type of information with Joyce Summers. Faith couldn’t take the risk. That left her with two choices, little sister or best friend. Somehow, Faith had a feeling Buffy and Dawn told each other everything, good or bad.
She picked up the little black book again and found Dawn’s number. Quickly, she dialed. It rang a few times before someone answered. The girl who answered was laughing and shouted something to another occupant of the room before finally saying “hello?”
Faith cut her off, clearly annoyed. “Dawn Summers.” She said in a sharp tone.
“Uh… Yeah. One minute.”
Not long after, another voice came over the phone. “Yeah?”
“Dawn? It’s Faith… Buffy’s friend. We met at the party…”
“Yes, sure. Hi! How are you?”
“Been better, thanks.” Faith said dryly. “I’m at your sister’s place right now.”
Dawn didn’t know what to make of the phone call. She was puzzled that Faith would call her in the first place. They’d never really talked except at the party. And the fact that she was calling her from Buffy’s house was even stranger. It didn’t sound like a social call either.
“What’s going on? Everything OK? Did something bad happen?”
“Whoa, slow down just a sec. First I need to know… Do you and your sister tell each other all your dirty secrets?”
“Why do you want to know that?..”
“Look, can you please just answer?” she said, her voice weary.
“We tell each other everything and in case you wonder, I don’t repeat anything she tells me. So don’t bother asking.”
“It’s not like that, Dawn. I wanted to know because I didn’t want to tell you something you don’t already know. But Buffy needs you right now.”
Faith filled a now distraught Dawn in on the details of what happened the day before.
“Oh God…” The young girl whispered breathlessly. “I’ll be there in two hours. I’ll borrow my roommate’s car.”
“Good. I’ll be here waiting.”
Faith hung up and went to make Buffy some toast and coffee, hoping to convince her to eat something.
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The sound of a car door slamming could be heard from inside the house. Faith stood up and went to the window to look outside. Dawn was running to the front door like she had the devil tailing her.
“That sassy little sister of yours is here, B.” Faith told the quiet woman on the bed.
The only change in Buffy over the past two hours was that she’d turned on her side, probably tired of looking at the ceiling. She had also shaken her head no when Faith had offered the toast and coffee, and nodded when Faith asked her if it was alright that she’d called Dawn. The only time she’d talked was when she’d told Faith that she didn’t want to talk and she was sorry. So Faith had sat on the bed with her and read some magazines.
Dawn burst into the room, then stopped in her tracks, a stricken look on her pretty face at the sight of her sister.
“Oh… Buffy.” She said quietly, almost afraid to disturb the depressive atmosphere in the bedroom.
Faith watched as Dawn quietly climbed on the bed behind her sister and spooned with her, hugging Buffy’s back to her chest and burrowing her face in her blonde hair.
Feeling awkward and out of place, Faith left the bedroom and went to make herself a cup of coffee, hoping it wouldn’t take too long for the siblings to talk it out. She didn’t know if it would be rude to just leave without saying goodbye. She almost snickered out loud at how ridiculously mundane this sounded. Almost as if she’d come over for tea and was now saying her goodbyes. She shook her head and busied herself with preparing coffee. She sat down with her mug when it was done brewing and sat silently at the kitchen table after glancing quickly at the clock. She had a little while before her shift started, but she still had to get out of her dirty clothes and take a shower. She was starting to smell funky.
After almost an hour alone with her own thoughts, Faith was about to get up to leave when Dawn walked into the kitchen. Her red-rimmed eyes said a lot about her current misery. Faith looked at her expectantly.
“So? Anything?”
The young girl shook her head, fresh tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. “No. She wouldn’t talk to me. All I got from her was ‘I’m fine. I don’t want to talk about it.’ You know Buffy… trying to be tough all the time.”
“What about you, college girl? You all right?”
Dawn shook her head without a word.
Faith gave her a sympathetic look. “Sorry kid. I didn’t know who to call and didn’t want to leave her alone. I spent the night here but I need to go to work.”
“Oh.” Dawn sounded dejected. “You’re leaving?”
“Yeah. A girl’s gotta make a living you know? I swear I would have rather stayed here with you and B, but I really can’t. Giles’ gonna have my head if I don’t show up. We don’t have enough guards to cover every section tonight. If I call in sick, the old man’s gonna have a fit.”
Dawn sat down. "Sure. I understand..."
The younger girl had her hands clasped together between her knees, her shoulder were slumped and she was looking down with a sad pout on her full lips. Faith raised a disbelieving eyebrow at the display.
"'you practice that look a lot, Miss Drama Queen?"
Dawn looked up sharply, looking slightly wounded at the accusation. "I wasn't..."
"Cause I'm telling you, if secretly I wasn't so scared of the British Wonder I work with, it would have probably worked."
Dawn smiled hesitantly. "Really?"
"Absolutely."
Faith squeezed the girl's shoulder affectionately, then put her bag on her shoulder and took her keys on the kitchen table. She started walking away when Dawn stopped her.
"Are you gonna come back?"
"Sure. I'll come check on you girls tomorrow. I left my cell number on the fridge if you need anything."
Dawn nodded.
"And if you tell anyone I'm scared of Giles, there will be hell to pay, missy."
Dawn couldn't help but chuckle at the empty threat. "I wouldn't dare. Your secret is safe with me."
She watched Faith leave, then went to take her place at Buffy's side.
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Faith made her way through the familiar hallways in silence, her eyes down to avoid making eye contact with anybody. She was not in the mood for small talk. She quickly pushed open the door to the infirmary and walked in.
Anya stood up eagerly, then sat back down with a disappointed frown when she saw who it was. "Oh, Faith. It's just you. I thought someone needed my help."
"Actually, Nymph, I sorta do."
"What's wrong?.. And I'm not a nympho! I told you that many times before. I have a healthy sexual appetite, nothing wrong with that."
"Aw, it's nothing but an affectionate little nickname. Don‘t get all freaked out on me for that."
The words were playful, but Anya couldn't help noticing how dull Faith's voice sounded. She stood up again and walked to the dark haired woman. Automatically, Faith extended her arm, offering Anya her bandaged right hand.
"'Need stitches, Nymph."
"What happened?"
"The tiled wall of my shower got in the way of my fist."
"I'm glad not to be your landlord, Faith." Anya commented lightly while her trained hands were unwrapping the gauze covering the wound. When the broken flesh appeared, she whistled under her breath.
"Damn, you must have been really angry at that wall."
"I was a bit upset, yeah. The pain helped."
"What now?" Anya asked, her eyes never leaving her task.
"What do you mean?"
"When your hand heals and there's no more pain, what do you do then? Drop something heavy on your foot? Punch yourself in the face?.. I'm just wondering how breaking your hand helps you not being upset anymore. Isn't pain temporary?"
Faith tensed visibly. "Look, not that I don't appreciate the feeling, but if I wanted a shrink to check out my head, I'd be lying down on a plush leather couch right about now."
"Fine." Anya's eyes got considerably colder and she stopped talking, biting her lower lip and focusing on finishing stitching Faith's hand.
The silence was heavy and uncomfortable, especially coming from the usually chatty nurse, but Faith didn't have the energy left in her to do something about it.
Anya finished up and wrapped clean gauze around the now sutured wound. She turned around without a word and went to wash her hands. "You should go say hello to Spike. He's really lonely."
Anya shook her head, not seeing Faith's panicked look. "I don't understand why no one cares about such a drool worthy male specimen. It's a shame that no one would come visit or at least call him. I think he's a little bit depressed."
Faith took a step back toward the door, her eyes nervously glancing from the room where she knew Spike was, to Anya.
"I can't. Not right now. I'm sorry." She mumbled hurriedly.
And it was the truth. She really couldn't face Spike right now. She'd probably break down and tell him everything. It would hurt him and it would hurt Buffy. No, she really couldn't go in there.
Anya looked even angrier than she'd been. "Geez, all right. I didn't know I was asking so much. I just thought it might have been nice of you to at least ask him how he's doing." She grabbed Faith's good hand and slapped a bottle of pills in it. "Here's something for the pain."
Anya returned to what she was doing before the other woman had walked in, clearly dismissing Faith.
"Thanks. And... I uh... I'll try to bring Geek boy so he can visit Spike later." Faith turned to leave but as she reached for the handle, Anya's voice stopped her.
"I didn't want to be a psychologist to you Faith, I just wanted to be a friend... just thought you should know."
Faith scrunched her eyes shut as if in pain. What was wrong with the world suddenly that everybody wanted to be her friend when for so long, she had no one but herself? She should be ecstatic, but the thing was, she'd just found out that caring about people was a lot more painful than she'd thought.
With a sad smile, she looked over her shoulder to where Anya was waiting expectantly and raised her now throbbing hand, drawing the nurse's attention to the injury. "See, the thing is... I kinda suck at being a friend. Gimme one more person to care about, and God only knows what I‘ll break next."
Anya nodded her understanding, watching sadly as Faith walked out.
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“You are so beyond cool.”
The young prisoner gushed while trotting happily next to Faith. The guard’s eyes were narrowed into dangerous slits, frustration and boredom fighting for dominance on her face. She let out a long, slow breath. This day kept getting worse.
“Amongst the brave men keeping this fortress safe, the one woman bravest of them all is standing tall.”
Faith had never rolled her eyes so much in so little time. About an hour ago, she’d fetched Andrew and took him to the infirmary so he could visit Spike. They were now on their way back to the common room and she could not wait to get there and finally be rid of the annoying little man.
“But now,” Andrew continued his animated speech, completely oblivious to Faith’s irritation. “I know for sure you are the most amazing woman ever created.”
She really couldn’t help but turn her head to give him a look of complete disbelief. Was this guy for real?!
Andrew frowned, the wheels turning in his fantasist head. “Well, maybe not exactly... But right up there. With Ms. Summers. She’s way cool too. You’re my savior, and Spike’s savior. He could have died you know? But you walked right in there and stood up to the corrupt guard and saved him.”
He stopped talking long enough to take a breath and shake his head. “And now... You gave me the chance to finally thank Spike properly. I didn’t really have time to do it yesterday in all this madness.”
Oh God, there were tears in his eyes now! Thank heavens they were almost there.
“You are truly a pure soul, Faith. A tough woman with a heart of gold. Thank you.”
“Uh... yeah. Whatever.”
She unlocked the door to the common room and after pushing Andrew in and letting the door shut behind them, she unlocked his handcuffs.
She looked around and saw two guards coming her way. She sighed in relief at the possible diversion.
“Thank you, Faith. You’re a great person. You're just like..."
"OK! I get it. You're welcome. Now scram..."
Andrew opened his mouth to say something else, but as soon as he saw the two guard coming their way, he decided that listening to what Faith said would be a good idea after all. These guys were mean. So he scrammed.
Faith looked expectantly at her two coworkers. She didn't like them, couldn't even remember their names, but they were a welcome distraction from Geek boy. Anything that would save her from the little prisoner's chatter could only be seen as a good thing.
"Yo, what's up boys?"
The two guards didn't answer right away. They stopped in front of the female guard and stood there, just a little too close for comfort. Right away, Faith could detect a certain level of tension. She had a feeling the worse day ever just got a little bit worse. She still kept on her "tough girl" facade, hoping it would deter these two idiots' intentions.
"I said: What. Is. Up? That too complicated a question for you guys? You spill now, because I have other things to do... places to be. Ya know the drill."
The two other guards had decidedly unpleasant smiles on their faces. One of them--tall and skinny, definitely ugly--finally spoke up.
"You think you're the shit, Faith, don't you? Think because you're the only female guard here, you can rule the place?"
"Excuse me?” She exclaimed, anger flashing in her brown eyes. “What the fuck are you getting at?"
The slightly shorter man, with red hair and tattoos, advanced on her. He only took one step, but the message was clear. Faith tensed, her whole body on alert.
Tall and ugly continued his little speech, clearly not impressed by Faith. "It's bad enough we have to let one chick make the rules because she's the warden and we don't have a God damn word to say about it, we're not gonna let a little egotistical bitch like you make the law too. Got me?"
Doing her best to look unimpressed, Faith took a step closer to tall and ugly. She hesitated a moment, trying hard to remember his name but without success. She never worked with those two because she usually had the day shift and they worked at night. She decided Asshole suited him. "Look asshole, either you tell me what the hell you're talking about right now, or this conversation is over. You're making me waste my time here."
"You always manage to get your way and we're sick of it." Mr. Tattoo explained. "You got the last warden fired, you're kissing up to the new one, and now you fucking got Jake fired thanks to that BIG FUCKING MOUTH of yours. Just because you have tits doesn’t mean you can get away with everything. Not here."
Faith took two steps back only to encounter the very solid wall. Suddenly, she realized what that long phone call Buffy made when they got to her place the day before was all about.
"So, she fired Jake then..." Faith stated, more for her own benefit.
"Not officially, but he got his security access card taken away and somehow," Tall and ugly said through clenched teeth, his eyes burning with hatred. "I think it has something to do with you and what happened in the shower room yesterday morning."
Deciding this was getting out of hand and things didn't look so good for her, Faith tried to punch the nearest of her tormentors. She had to use her left hand because of her injury, and with her back against the wall, she couldn’t pull back enough to deliver a serious punch. Her fist came at the red head slow enough for him to catch it in his meaty paw and stop her before she reached her intended target. He quickly used his other hand to crush her throat painfully and slam her against the wall. The two men used their body to shield the scene from anybody who'd care to look.
"You might act all tough and mighty, Faith, but in the end, you're just a scared little girl. Aren't you?"
Her hands were clawing at the red head's hand, trying to somehow relieve some of the pressure around her wind pipe.
"Fuck you!" She managed to croak.
"No, fuck YOU Faith. You'll soon find out who really makes the rules around here, and it's not a little bitch like you..."
Faith was starting to see black spots, when suddenly, the pressure around her neck was gone. She dropped to her knees and tried desperately to catch her breath. For a few seconds, she was unaware of the commotion and only thought he'd decided to let her go. Then she heard an angry male voice yelling: "Get your fucking hands off of her!"
Faith looked up.
Charles Gunn was in the middle of doing quite a number on her attacker's face.
She massaged her bruised throat for a moment while watching the scene, a surprised look on her pretty face. Looked like she'd just been rescued by a tall, well muscled, black hunky knight in shining armor. The day was turning out pretty good in the end.
She noticed Tall and ugly snapping out of his stupor and looking like he was just about to help his little buddy. Faith stood up on slightly shaky legs and quickly reached him. She cocked her fist and hit him, satisfied when it connected with his jaw. Yep, she still had it.
The other guards on duty in the room had just noticed the commotion and came running. Right away, they tried to grab hold of Gunn, but Faith stopped them.
"Wrong guy. He was just defending me against these two assholes."
They released Charles, and he came closer to Faith.
"'You OK, there?"
"I'll live. Thanks… I owe you one, big boy. Not that I really needed help or anything..." She quickly added.
An amused smile played on his lips. "Yeah right. He was choking you. You were about to pass out. Face it, you were toast, girl."
Faith snorted. "As if. I had everything under control... I had a plan you know."
“I’d like to hear that fabulous plan of yours. I’m curious.”
“Play the damsel in distress and wait for a drool worthy hunk of a man to rescue me.”
She winked at him, then follow another guard out of the room, leaving Charles Gunn speechless.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I was away for a while, which explains the lack of update. I'm really sorry about that. But I'm back now, rested, and ready to finish this one even if I have to work night and day to do it lol. So expect more updates in the near future. And guys, don't let me down with the reviews. I still wanna hear what you think. Every comment you make matters to me, good or bad. So take a second and leave me a review.