“Going Goth?” Faith stared at the dark smears under Buffy’s eyes, frowning. Being tear-stained and huddled under a cloud of gloom was a bad sign. “Great look, B. I love the way that mascara brings out the bags under your eyes.”
Horror dawning, Buffy realized that clear evidence of her tears was showing. For a second she froze halfway across the threshold staring back like she’d been caught doing something unforgivable. Spine stiff, shoulders straight, chin tilted stubbornly, she snapped, “I didn’t realize Raccoon-in-Plaid was the rage now,” reminding Faith of the blue-black ring of bruised flesh around her own eye. “Otherwise…”
Conceding the point, “Touché,” Faith shut the door behind them. She did not miss the fact that her casual comment hit a few nerves.
After a pause, Buffy’s tightly wound expression softened, asking, “You okay?”
“Yeah,” Faith shifted uncomfortably at the sudden concern. “I was gonna ask you the same question.”
Only it seemed that Buffy had already moved on. Catching up to Willow, hissing, “Why didn’t you tell me?” she hastily wiped her fingertips beneath her eyes, and then, still whispering, asked if Angel had seen her that way.
The fact that they had seen Angel caught Faith’s attention as she listened to Willow’s response. “I don’t know,” said Willow muttering an apology for not noticing. “Guess I was kinda preoccupied.”
She was not the only one with other things on their mind. Xander trailed after them casting lingering glances at her bare legs gaping at her over his shoulder. Faith pushed aside her curiosity over Buffy’s words for a moment, turning her attention to him, waiting for his sorry excuse for being caught staring. His gaze lifted toward her face. Only he did not make it that far, rapt attention zeroing in on a flash of cleavage as she absently plucked at a button.
Someone shouted a warning, too late, just as Xander rammed into the end of the banister. Biting back a laugh, Faith idly wondered what Cordelia Chase had ever seen in such a putz. He had to have something going for him.
Watching Xander clownishly clasp the sore spot on his chest and fumble for excuses for not looking where he was going, Faith could not see it. Whatever it was, it had to be hidden. It might be fun to find out. “Want me to rub that for you?” she leaned close to his ear taking up a spot next to him.
The audible gulp was too much. Faith chuckled, dimpling in amusement at Xander’s immediate panic. Catching the stern stare from her stuffy new Watcher reminded her that this wasn’t exactly the time for flirtation; especially with Cordelia’s ex. Thinking of Cor only made her think of Bev and that made the already hard knot sitting in her stomach tighten up.
It made her sick to think about it. All that blood. Someone who did not deserve to die. Her fault.
Faith pressed her mouth closed tightly, ignoring the discomfort of her swollen split lip. The anger she had let overwhelm her last night was brewing again. Just thinking of Bev was enough to awaken a need to pummel something to death. Preferably the ugly evil bastard demon that’d killed her.
She barely noticed that Giles had arrived downstairs sporting a robe over another set of plaid pajamas. Did Watchers own anything but plaid and tweed? It wasn’t until after he’d greeted the Scoobies that she snapped out of her thoughts. Despite the bed head, Giles looked fully alert and ready to be debriefed on anything they might have to report.
It was doubtful that they’d fought the demon again. This was not a triumphant group returning from a night of slayage. Buffy still wore the same clothes from yesterday and looked like she had been up all night— crying, too, if the runny mascara was any clue.
Realization hit, “You’ve seen Angel.” Buffy must’ve gotten wind of the fact that her ex was off the market… unless something bad had happened.
Ignoring the comment, Buffy made eye contact with Giles. “We need to talk,” she nodded toward the kitchen. Privacy was not exactly easy in the small condo.
Maybe this was not something she wanted to say with an audience hanging around, but Faith was not about to be cut out of the conversation. Butting in, “Anything that’s Slayer business is my business, too. If you got something to say, I want to hear it.”
Especially if that business had to do with Cordy & Angel.
Faith followed along despite the subtle clearing of Giles’ throat. Shouldn’t he know by now that she did not do subtle?
Blocking the way into the kitchen, Buffy told her, “This is personal.”
So it was about Angel.
“Can the personal chit-chat. We have a demon to find.”
Emphasizing her name, “Faith,” Giles interrupted quickly, “perhaps it would be best if I have a moment alone with Buffy.”
Feigning disinterest with a shrug Faith turned her back on the two of them. Her gaze fell on Willow and Xander who looked like they were going to burst a blood vessel or two trying to stay silent. “I suppose you two know all about it.” No doubt they meant to keep her in the dark being such loyal little sidekicks.
Deciding that she might as well check how Cordelia was doing, Faith inquired, “Did Angel say—?” never realizing that it would open the floodgates.
Her mention of Angel spurred Xander and Willow to inundate her with comments about being at the mansion last night. They were talking so fast it was hard to keep up. Not so fast that she didn’t catch the key words ‘Angel’ and ‘soul’. That got everyone’s attention.
“Back up!” Holding out her hands, Faith prompted them to slow down. “Say what?”
“It’s about Angel’s soul,” blurted Willow no longer able to withhold the information a moment longer.
“Bastard,” Xander grumbled loudly. “Stupid curse. If he was gonna lose anything, it shoulda been his—”
Gasping indignantly, “Xander!” Willow whacked him on the arm. “Shut up. This is important.”
Cautious curiosity prompted Wesley to join the conversation. “Something happened to the vampire’s soul?” he queried before Faith could ask the same thing.
Giles’ head snapped back to Buffy, icy horror chilling him. “Not again.” Picturing Angelus on the loose, a clipped accusation fell from his lips, “Buffy, how could you?”
A snort sounded as Faith realized what direction his conclusions had taken. Though she was worried about the fact that Angel might have lost his soul, and what that meant for Cordelia, it was obvious to her how that scenario would have gone down.
Faith didn’t know much about love. Being horny, wanting someone to fill you up, to make you forget about anything else felt familiar— she knew all about that. Sex was an escape from pain and loneliness, or something fun with a stranger that gave you a high. Instinctively, she knew that it would be different for Cordelia and Angel where feelings were involved. That had to make it even harder for them to resist considering the curse, prophecy, kidnapping and death.
Life was too short and full of shit to ignore something that felt so damn good. And if your honey was a hottie, that did not make it any easier. After all that had happened tonight, Faith figured things had just taken a natural course. She pictured Cordelia and Angel tangled up in bed going at it. Hell, there was only one thing to conclude.
Bliss.
She had every confidence that Angel could deliver. The only question was whether or not Angel would feel it too. Bliss. Would that rocket-ride to an orgasm really cause him to lose his soul? It had happened before, and was something that could easily happen again, so she’d been told.
Suddenly things were not so funny. Cor had hinted that things were heating up. Both of them had managed to resist going too far. Faith had asked lots of questions partly because it was fun to see her friend so worked up over Soul Boy. But mostly it was because the Mayor had something else on his agenda that involved Angel.
Faith had nearly told him to stuff it when he mentioned seducing Angel, causing him to lose his soul and inviting Angelus to join forces. Mentioning that Angel already had a girlfriend didn’t seem to faze him. Wilkins just asked if she’d lost her touch. He’d given her a couple of nights to think about it, but got distracted with civic matters over the Bingo Parlor debacle.
Seducing Angel might have been fun if not for Cordelia. Now that she was in the picture there was no way Angel would see Faith that way. Yes, he was a guy, but he was a guy in love. This was not the same broody vampire that Buffy had dumped when he got back from hell. Under different circumstances, Faith would not have minded giving Angel the ride of his undead life.
Cordelia made all the difference. She was a friend. That was a rarity for Faith. One she wasn’t about to let the Mayor screw over that way.
No, she had practically betrayed Cordelia another way, Faith realized, thinking of Bev again. It wasn’t fucking fair. Then again, when had anything ever been fair?
Intently, she turned back to face Buffy, her hands grabbing the counter edge. Deep down in her gut she knew what had happened, but she wanted to hear it for herself. Giles’ assumption about Buffy doing Angel was way off.
“What?” Buffy glanced around uncomfortably at the staring faces. They had all moved in that much closer. “No! I didn’t. We didn’t. We know better. He’s supposed to know better.”
Faith could not believe that she had to point out the truth. “Giles, B didn’t sleep with Angel.”
“She didn’t?”
Instant relief relaxed his expression until Willow rephrased his words and changed the emphasis. Squirming uncomfortably, “She didn’t.”
“Cordelia, Giles, it was Cordelia,” Faith emphasized, snapping her fingers in the air. Giles’ head twitched, eyebrows coming together, and then arcing up as the light bulb went off. “Buffy wouldn’t be so upset if she was the one doing the wild thing with Angel.”
“W-W-Wild thing?” Wesley stuttered behind them.
He got her meaning clearly enough, Faith gathered, glancing over her shoulder at the man. On the surface he seemed so different from Giles, yet they had the same training. Giles had some interesting layers she was still discovering. She wondered if Wesley was going to prove to be half as much fun in breaching that stuffy exterior.
“Cordelia?” Giles looked bug-eyed for an instant before he paled.
Faith gave him an I-told-you-so look before asking Buffy, “Everything’s cool, right? You didn’t stake Angel, did you?”
“No,” Buffy huffed as if she wished she’d done it.
A high-pitched screech startled Faith who swung around to face Wesley. He looked thunderstruck with a mix of awe and terror. “Angelus is back! Dear God, no.” Flying into action, Wesley flung his suitcase onto the coffee table, pushing aside neatly folded clothing to grab the manila folder containing his research on the vampire. “We must organize a plan at once. The most important thing is that no one panic.”
The only panicking seemed to be coming from his direction.
Wesley held up his hands, one of them containing the folder, gesturing for the group to stay in place so they could think this through. None of them had actually moved. “Good,” he nodded at their calm response.
Inwardly, Faith wasn’t so certain anymore. One scenario kept playing out in her head as she thought of Angel and Cordelia in bed together. It had everything to do with the mayor’s proposed scenario: causing Angel to lose his soul. Shit, no wonder Buffy had been crying. Angelus was back.
“Where’s Cordelia?” demanded Faith.
“At the mansion,” Xander answered jaw tightening, “with him.”
Faith felt dizzy at the thought. Oh, fuck. “You left Cor with Angelus?”
A croak sounded from Wes’ throat as he lifted his chin a notch. “Then your friend must be dead,” he concluded swiftly. Standing there in his robe and plaid pajama bottoms, he rushed to assure them that his training would get them through this latest ordeal.
“But Angel didn’t lose his soul,” Willow calmly interjected before Giles could say anything.
A chorus of, “He didn’t?” sounded from Faith, Giles and Wes.
Feeling stunned by the news, Faith could not understand it. The prospect that Angel had not experienced that fateful moment of bliss with Cordelia just seemed wrong. She looked over at Giles for answers, but he seemed lost in thought, eyes closed in an expression of utter relief. Only Wesley remained objective enough to consider the possible reasons.
Referring to some notations in the Watchers Council records, “There is little to no information about the curse available other than your own report, Mr. Giles, on the happenings between Miss Summers and Angelus.”
Buffy’s jaw dropped at the notion that this stuffy stranger knew all about it. “I don’t know why I bother asking for privacy. My love life is already International News. Why keep anyone out of the loop now?”
“We’re talking about Cordy and Angel,” reminded Faith, her fears alleviated, calm again now that she knew Cordelia was safe and no one needed staking. “I knew they’d end up in the sack.”
She did not miss the scowl on Buffy’s face, but continued on anyway. “How the hell did Angel not lose his soul? Virgin or not, no way would Cor not know how to give him a moment of bliss,” she gestured lewdly.
“Would she…?” Xander suddenly decided to drop the question when Giles cleared his throat rather loudly.
Giles and Wesley exchange looks mutually deciding that it was up to them to get a handle on the conversation before it went further out of hand. Neither one of them was exactly comfortable with the subject, but it had to be discussed.
“Perhaps you should review what happened,” Giles suggested. “I presume you went to the mansion as was discussed.”
Buffy sighed heavily answering, “Yes,” while Willow and Xander nodded and followed suit with, “Uh huh” and “Yup.”
Silence followed and the uncomfortable sensation building in Giles’ stomach churned as he pressed on with the inquisition. They were making him pry the information out of them. “So you saw something that led you to believe…”
“Oh, we saw alright,” Xander groused, his face darkening.
Willow’s pale face flushed as she admitted, “Through the keyhole.”
“You were spying on them?” Faith was not amused. She gave the three of them a look of disgust and walked into the adjacent living room to sink onto the couch. Propping her chin on her hand as she leaned against the arm of the couch, she mused, “Bet that’d be hot.”
Resoundingly shocked by the comment, Wesley sputtered, “Please, Faith, do try not to be so— so…,” only to let his voice trail off. He gathered his thoughts again before saying, “It is not your place to be concerned with the— the sexual proclivities of vampires.”
Snorting softly, Faith merely stared back.
“No one said they were having sex,” squeaked Xander complaining. “There was no sex having. Nope, none that we saw, therefore, it wasn’t had.”
“Uh—,” Willow looked back and forth between Buffy and Xander.
Giles pinched the bridge of his nose. “Buffy,” he began before opening his eyes, “I do hope you can shed some light on the subject. This must be painful for you, but it is important that you tell me what we’re facing.”
Shoulders slumped, Buffy’s look was desolate, her hazel eyes full of anguish. “I think Angel… I think Cordelia has him all twisted up inside.” She pushed past him to head into the living room where she took a seat in Giles’ favorite easy chair pulling her legs up and hugging her knees close to her chest. “He’s just sorry for her, that’s all.”
Even Faith knew better than to interrupt. She held her tongue as Buffy explained her version of the night’s events.
“We got there with Cordelia’s stuff,” she recounted bitterly. “That’s when Angel came downstairs to meet us and told us that Drusilla had actually saved Cordelia. It wasn’t until later that…” Buffy’s blonde hair shadowed her features as her head dipped low.
Willow picked up when her best friend suddenly trailed off leaping in to fill in the blanks. “Later, we heard noises. Fighting. It wasn’t spying. Not really.”
“No,” Buffy agreed looking up again. “It sounded like an argument. We were concerned.”
“Yeah, concerned.”
“Uh huh.”
As usual, Giles seemed more patient about waiting for the story to come out. Faith felt antsy, waiting anxiously for the details. Still, it was easy to guess where both Buffy and Xander were coming from. A little too easy. She only hoped they would get over the hurt-jealous-angry stage quickly for Cor’s sake. In the meantime, it would be fun to rub their noses in it. Giles, too. She would have to remind him that her predictions about the direction of Cordelia and Angel’s relationship were smack on target.
Cursing quietly, Giles reprimanded himself for not interfering. “Having observed their growing attachment, I feared the worst. My instincts told me it would only lead to trouble, but I chose to put off my concerns for future contemplation.”
He was looking at her, conceding the point, before Faith could rag him on it. She saw that Buffy looked wounded that Giles had not warned her about it. “You knew?” Shimmery tears appeared which Buffy blinked away rapidly. Straightening up her slumped form, she snapped, “Don’t you know what could’ve happened? You’re supposed to say something, do… something.”
Faith pointed out that it was not exactly Giles’ fault if Angel and Cordelia fell in love. Gasping, Buffy closed her arms across her chest and held on. “They’re not. Angel was just—”
“Horny?” asked Faith curious to hear Buffy’s take on the whole thing.
With a deep sigh, Wesley piped in, “That is hardly helpful, Faith. There is really no need to—,” only to be cut off.
“No,” Buffy dragged out the word with gritted teeth. Considering that might be better than actually feeling something else, added, “Okay, yes, but that’s all it was.”
Faith could only shake her head in pity.
“Angel understands the danger of such folly,” Giles shook his head. “He would not likely risk the loss of his soul. However, tonight has been a trial for everyone. With Cordelia in such danger, it might provoke Angel into behaving less rationally.”
Wesley concurred with a nod. “Vampire instincts are rather strong when it comes to those close to them, although that is generally reserved for members of their own bloodline.”
The two Watchers seemed caught up in dissecting the rationale behind Cordelia and Angel ending up in bed together. It seemed a lot simpler to Faith.
“Cordelia is at times rash,” Giles noted causing Buffy to grunt in agreement. Though it surprised him that she would overlook the potential consequences of the curse, it might be explained simply enough. “Teenagers are often swept up by their hormonal urges.”
“Someone should keep her hormones to herself,” muttered Buffy.
Xander took exception to that. “Cordelia was upset. It wasn’t her fault.”
“If Angel’s soul remains intact,” Wesley suggested, “perhaps things did not go as far as you suggest.”
Faith considered the fact that Buffy was just blowing things out of proportion. “What exactly did you see through that keyhole?”
There was a long pause until Willow finally answered when the other two refused to volunteer the information. “They were fighting. And kissing. That’s when Cordelia told him about his soul. Then door opened,” she shuddered at the memory, “and we got caught.”
Curiously, Giles asked, “What about Angel’s soul, specifically?”
“It’s permanent,” Buffy answered with a hint of awe sounding in her voice. After all that had been said she still couldn’t get over the idea.
Everyone was too stunned to respond and the room fell into silence again for several seconds until the only sound was the repetitive ticking of the clock. Giles and Wesley shared an amazed look as they each considered the import of this news.
“My God,” Giles could only whisper the words when he finally found his voice, “Angelus.”
Wesley quickly picked up the idea enthusiastically. “The threat would be gone. With Angel’s soul secure, he would… still be a vampire even if guided by a conscience,” he sobered slightly. “That is hardly a suitable relationship for Miss Chase to pursue.”
“Suitable or not,” Faith grinned at the prospect, “I’d like to see you try to stop her. I wasn’t so keen it at first, but now that I know him, Angel’s cool.”
“He took advantage of Cor last night,” Xander spat furiously. “He deserves the pointy end of a stake. Her grandma’s dead, she got kidnapped and then Dead Boy swooped in for the rescue all Don Juan-like.”
Giles grimaced. “Yes, I can see where you are coming from. However, despite the fact that neither of us approve of Cordelia being intimate with Angel, it sounds as if you are fairly certain it has happened.”
Another snort sounded from Faith as Xander went into denial mode again. “Nope. We saw nothing. So we can’t be certain about being certain.”
“Ah,” Giles knew better than to go there, she noted, watching him struggle with his response. Finally, he settled on steering away from sex and back to the important issue of the curse itself. “You say that Cordelia told Angel his soul was permanent?”
Wondering aloud, “How’d she know?” Faith figured it had been more than wishful thinking. Cordelia might have been as distraught and hormonal as Xander and Giles suggested, but not stupid.
“I was going to ask that,” Wesley held up a finger showing his interest.
A clipped answer followed from Buffy, “Drusilla.”
Some missing puzzle pieces fell into place. Cordelia had been hush-hush about her first experience with Drusilla. The vampiress had said something to her, but Cor was not willing to tell Faith what that was. She had gone all red and then pale and changed the subject so cunningly that Faith forgot about it.
Both Giles and Wesley had that contemplative far away look, their mouths set into grim lines. It was the younger Watcher who pressed on with their original line of questioning. “So you are certain that they…”
“Pretty certain,” Buffy answered glumly. Then her mouth tightened up as she added, “Certain that Cordelia made him feel sorry for her, that’s all.”
“Yeah right,” Faith threw her a look of pity. “While you and Xander are in Denialsville be sure to take the full tour.”
Both of them glared back for a second before turning to Willow, as if expecting her to take their side. Faith was interested to see which side she was going to choose: the Angel’s-an-evil-bastard side or the Cordelia’s-a-seductress side. The look of panic on Willow’s face was priceless. She pressed her lips together as if determined not to say a thing. That lasted 2.5 seconds.
“I-I’m certain that we didn’t wake up dead this morning,” Willow chirped clasping her hands behind her back. “Either Angel’s curse is cured or they didn’t do it.”
For a second, Faith thought that Willow was going to weasel out of giving them a real opinion. She shrank back out of the circle they had formed around the room clearly uncomfortable being the center of attention, yet surprised them all by adding, “But I kinda think they did.”
“Oh, dear,” Wesley shook his head. Repeating what he had said before, “Angel may have a conscience, but he is still a powerful vampire retaining some measure of demonic influence. That is definitely not something any girl should be involved with.”
Buffy turned beet red and was working her way up to a comeback when Faith butted in with, “Hey, you ever think that Soul Boy might’ve done you a favor? You’re all worked up about Angel getting laid, but you should be grateful for it. Since Cordy’s no longer cherry, that means she’s no longer sacrifice material, right?”
After the two Watchers got over their immediate embarrassment, they stumbled for a response. “There is no guarantee the demon referred to purity as a virgin state,” Wes covered his discomfort by focusing objectively. “For example, the demons of the Harthankoora tribe consider their females pure until they have killed their first mate. Or the—”
“So you’re saying that Cordelia is still in danger?” Alarmed, Faith thought she had found a bit of good news for her friend. Not that they were friends anymore after yesterday. “I guess that means the best thing to do is have Cor stick it out with Angel until this is over.”
No one seemed fond of the idea. Giles suggested that they simply had to be vigilant. “The demon that attacked you may not come alone next time. It would be best if you or Buffy remained with Cordelia at all times. The rest of us will continue to follow the signs of the prophecy.”
“Angel won’t like that,” warned Buffy knowing it to be true, a mask of resignation slipping across her face, “but the fact is that he can’t be there all of the time.”
Willow looked like she’d betrayed her best friend— both of them. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I-I know it’s painful. If it was Oz falling for someone else, I’d be upset, too.”
“That’s right. You’ve been on the other side of that coin with Xander.” Faith watched as Willow gaped at the reminder. “But that was different, wasn’t it, Will? You two were cheating.”
“Uh— I suppose so,” she admitted, blushing.
Xander turned red, too. “That was different… and so not a subject I want to talk about right now.”
Neither did Willow by the sound of it. She rushed to change the subject. “Giles, Cordelia wants to come over today. She needs some help to arrange things for her grandmother.”
“Me?” The question slipped out before Giles realized that Cordelia had no one to rely upon for funeral matters. Faith knew that he would shoulder the responsibility just as he always did. Giles was cool that way. “Yes, of course I will help her.”
Still, he pointed out that it would be necessary for one of the Slayers to accompany them. Just because it was daytime did not mean that they could relax their guard. Buffy glanced at Faith and said, “I’ll do it.”
“No way,” Faith stood up from the couch and cocked her head to the side. “I got it covered.”
Unfolding her legs, Buffy rose from her sitting position, and stubbornly crossed her arms. “You honestly think Cordelia wants you around?” Her meaning was all too clear. Cordelia would hate her for her part in Bev’s death.
“Better to have her pissed off than dead,” Faith countered adamantly. “You’ve been up all night.”
“You’re not exactly in top shape.”
Faith shrugged carelessly. “It’s nothing. It only hurts when I smile.”
Staring wide-eyed as the Slayers argued over who was going to take morning guard duty, Willow suggested diplomatically, “Maybe you should flip a coin.”
“I’m going,” Faith snapped, brown eyes intense. “I owe it to Cordy to protect her. Bev died because I fucked up.”
Willow cringed “F-fouled up?”
Glancing toward Giles, she caught his somber expression. “Yeah.” Faith knew that she was not likely to keep Cordelia’s friendship after this.