Faith didn’t feel the wood slats at her back as she leaned
against the darkened interior of the train. Her mind was on the catastrophe her
return to wakefulness had become. She should have just run to begin with,
rather than trying to take on Buffy and her gang – she realized that now.
Which was why she was on a train to nowhere. Anywhere but
Sunnydale and all the bad memories it held. She kicked at the wooden box in front of
her, not surprised when it shattered to pieces. Tears fell silently down her
face.
Alone. Always alone.
~*~
Though a few stray beams of sunlight filtered inside the
box car, it was still dark enough inside for Spike to observe his fellow
passenger unnoticed – at least until he flicked his lighter and lit the
cigarette held between his lips.
He smirked at the girl’s sudden gasp, how she scrambled to
her feet to protect her back, not bothering to wipe the tears that were no doubt
blurring her vision.
“Ain’t gonna hurt ya, pet.” Not that he could, mind. “Just catchin’ a ride, the same as you.” Spike held his arms wide, not moving
from the shadows on the other side of the freight car.
“Spike?” Faith called out, staring
intently at the shadowed corner, brows narrowed intently.
“How—?” He cut off his question and took another drag of the
cigarette to mask his confusion.
The orange glow illuminated his face and Faith couldn’t
help but smirk.
“I’ll be damned! It is you.
Fucking William the Bloody!” Her
body relaxed from its defensive stance and she strolled over, her mood suddenly
lightened – plucking the cigarette out from between his lips, drawing it to her
own. He growled and
snapped, but she ignored him and took a long hit. It wasn't like he could
actually hurt her.
“Bloody bint! Gimme that!” Spike snatched his cigarette
back, careful to avoid actually touching her and inadvertently setting off his
chip, eyes narrowing when she blow smoke in his face. He took another pull
and tried to regroup, figure out where he knew the girl from.
And although there was no doubt in his mind that they hadn’t crossed paths before,
the brunette’s body language screamed familiarity – he just couldn’t place her. In the end, he went with the straightforward approach.
“’ppears I’m at a loss, pet. You know me, but I can’t
rightly say the same.” He cocked his head inquiringly and waited.
“I’m hurt,” Faith pouted. “Last night was…
special. I can’t believe you don’t remember.”
If anything, her words confounded Spike even more.
“Look—” Spike began.
“I could ride you at a gallop until your legs buckled and
your eyes rolled up,” she falsettoed.
“That was you…?”
“Uh huh. Courtesy of a little body switching device, though it was
short-lived.”
“Didn’t think the Slayer’d be one to talk about
herself like that,” Spike snorted. “Shoulda’ known something was up.”
The two shared a smile.
“Guess Miss Goodie Two Shoes got her body back?”
“Yeah, you could say that,” Faith told him dejectedly. “Name’s Faith,
by the way.” She allowed her feet to slide out from beneath her and she sat
back down on the floor amidst the hay scattered about, once more leaning back against the wall.
Spike took off his duster and hung it on a protruding nail
and joined the Slayer on the floor. They sat there, neither saying anything for
the longest time. Finally, Spike could stand it no longer.
“Well, Faith… wanna talk about it?”
“Not particularly. Don’t need to relive how the blonde
bitch ruined my life once more, if it’s all the same to you.”
“You change your mind… it’s a long ride…”
Spike shrugged, like
it didn’t matter either way.
“You know where the train’s goin’?” Faith asked, changing
the subject.
“North. Washington state.”
“Yeah? Never been there.”
“’s nice. Rains all the time.”
Faith snorted and rolled her eyes, biting her lip to keep
from smiling.
“Wot? ‘s better than all that bloody sunlight Sunnyhell has
to offer. Who in their right mind would create a Hellmouth in sunny California,
anyway? Rather discriminating against those of us with a sun allergy, if you ask
me.”
He didn’t mention that he’d heard of a demon doctor that
could cure him of his little “affliction.” The Slayer bird seemed amenable
enough to his company right now, given his chipped status. No need to draw
attention to himself before he could properly defend against an attack.
Not that he’d see about bagging his third with this girl. He kinda liked her spunk. And seeing now that who he’d thought was the blonde
Slayer had, in actuality, been someone else, he could see the humor in their
confrontation at the Bronze.
“Yeah, I could see how that could be a problem for you.”
Her face grew serious and she looked up at the vampire
sitting beside her.
“So… this Washington… is it a good place to get lost?”
“The best, pet. The best.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Round Two
Faith took two steps, stopped, turned
around, then followed after the blond vampire. Messing
around with a vampire that couldn’t hurt her sounded like a
lot more fun than anything else she might find in the club.
Probably be able to give her a better
ride too…
She caught up to him quickly enough –
she’d obviously pissed him off with her little speech,
taking out his frustrations on defenseless garbage cans and
the like as he stormed down the alley.
He stopped suddenly and spun around,
and she waited for him to speak.
“What, Slayer? Back for round two?”
“Maybe…”
