Making Friends again

Unusual ways to make friends

Author: Norgco <norgco[at]yahoo.com>

Summary: A battle after the end of the seventh season, Xander has an unusual way to make friends with Faith.

Rating: NC-17 for language and violence

Disclaimer: I own none of it, and am not making any profit on it.

Feedback: Please


A cave near Sunnydale, after the First has been defeated.

Faith cleaved through another demon, wading through the carpet of muck up to the altar. The blade slashed, arm, legs and tentacles fell, blood and blood equivalent went everywhere. She was covered in the stuff, another set of clothes in need of major cleaning/burning. Buffy was working her way in from the opposite side of the altar, having circled around, Giles, Willow, and Kennedy, before the attack went in.

Xander, who was protecting her back as she cut a path through the minion demons to the priest demon, backed up the dark slayer. She had insisted on training him personally, on the simple grounds that, since he was an integral part of the team and had been for seven years, someone should have taught him to fight by now. The 'we want him to be safe' excuse didn't wash, given that it simply was not in his nature to quit, all it meant was he was fighting without the skills he needed to succeed and survive.

The chanting was continuing, since, a) if the ceremony succeeded there would be an open hellmouth and all the reinforcements needed to deal with the Scooby's, and b) the priest couldn't fight worth a damn and therefore were making the only contribution they could by continuing the ceremony. They were obsessive about it, actually.

You can only describe it as an obsession when they just keep chanting even as you kill them. It was pure slaughter from there, at least on her side of the altar it was. Buffy and co had problems with killing totally defenseless people, even if they are evil. Or, she does if she had screwed them anyway, and you never seemed to know how many of the undead or assorted demonic scum the blonde had humped.

Anyway Faith had chosen Xander as her backup only partly because she had trained him. The other reason, actually it was also the reason she was training him, was that he was a ruthless bastard who would take down anyone who was a threat, regardless of personal attachments. She still remembered the 'unique' way he had proved that to her.

Flashback: Xander's car, one morning soon after her return to the hellmouth

"Nice of ya to pick me up this morning." The dark slayer said, trying to get through the layer of suspicion the building foreman was holding between them. To say that Xander Harris was loyal to his friends was like saying that the surface of the sun was slightly warm. His tendency to define the entire universe in terms of 'threat to the Scooby's' and 'not a threat to the Scooby's' was, in her opinion, the reason for his otherwise contradictory behavior, like putting up with Anya when she went back to being Anyanka. She was not a threat to the Scooby's, only to him as an individual, and preserving his own life was not a high enough priority with him to justify wasting her.

Faith, on the other hand, had betrayed his trust and tried to kill them all.

"Faith, did your slayer hearing notice a click sound when you sat down." He inquired.

"Yeah boytoy, figured it was something adjustable in your nice car here."

"No Faith, it was a pressure release detonator arming." The dark haired man responded. His tone was calm and voice that of a teacher explaining something to a loved, but slow, pupil. "I had something to explain to you, and I thought you would pay more attention with a light anti armor weapon warhead aimed up your ass."

The car was totally silent for a time. Any movement that released the pressure on the detonator would make the bazooka explode.

"I see by the look on your face you understand what that means." Still with the school teacher manner, not smug or even angry, just trying to get across something important.

"Yeah, xman, I get ya, there's no need to..."

"Faith, there is every need." Cutting her off with a shake of his head.

They were driving on a deserted stretch of road, and now that she thought of it, a road where the burning wreckage of the car would not be a hazard to others. The younger Harris was thoughtful that way.

"You have to understand that, if you turn on us again, it will not be Buffy or Giles that decide what happens to you." With the council gone its wet work teams would probably take orders from him, so his opinion of these things was rather more important to her life expectancy than otherwise. "Buffy's decision making has been, how to phrase this politely, completely insane recently, and she had this 'we can't kill humans' thing. Giles is a nice guy, the dad I wish I had, but still of the 'if it has a soul we can't kill it' school."

Faith was more educated than she had been when she entered prison. The term 'surreal' was part of her vocabulary now, and the situation seemed to suit it. Here she sat, in a very comfortable, air conditioned car, being politely taught a little lesson by a man so disrespected that he had even failed to win the class clown award. The loveable goof who had now rigged his car to kill both of them if she did not listen to his polite tone, or at least, his flat, calm, 'I am the voice of reason' tone.

"Faith, I'll kill you where you stand. Or sit, or walk, or sleep, or whatever you happen to be doing, we both know humans with soul's need killing some times." Still the calm tone, and now she recognized it, it was the one people mentioned him using when he told Buffy to kill Angel instead of trying to restore his soul. Calm, reasonable, Xander, the ruthless one. "If you kill me all my worldly goods will be sold and the money spent on an open contract on you through the demon and human communities. And Faith, I'm not poor anymore."

"Xan, I really want to prove I'm not like that anymore, I really have changed..."

"Cool, glad to hear it, and I am more than willing to give you a second chance." The former zeppo said. "But if I think you are going bad again I will tell you, and YOU WILL LISTEN, because if you do not I will be your judge, jury and executioner."

It was cool in the car, but swear was trickling down the slayers face all the same.

"DO YOU READ ME?" Shouting suddenly.

"Yes sir."

"Ok, let's go somewhere and disarm this. And remember what happens to you if you kill me."

The Cave, after the battle is over.

That little talk had remained a secret between them. Actually it had improved the relationship between them. This was because it had reduced her nervousness about 'what if I go bad again?' and clearly established she had someone comparatively sane to discuss the situation with, since Buffy was both clearly a total loony tune, and, equally clearly, dominating everyone EXCEPT Xander and herself.

Fortunately enough of them had survived the blondes leadership to defeat the First Evil, and Giles had arranged for a psychiatrist Buffy had once saved from a vampire to treat her. Ok, it had taken a lot of begging, pleading, reasoning, and threats to get him to make the decision and Buffy to go along, but it had happened. Her medication did not affect her fighting ability, and she the counseling seemed to be doing some good.

Willow and Kennedy were snuggling, not in a Willow/Tara way, there would never be another Tara, but, still, they were a romantic pair and would be off to their bedroom as soon as they got home and showered.

Faith and Xander were sharing a bed. They seemed to understand each other, he had always preferred strong, independent women, and she liked him and trusted him about most things more than she trusted herself. She had even given him a present, to show there were no hard feelings about the incident in the car.

It was the US Army Field Manual on mines and improvised weapons. The one that explains booby-traps. He only had an older one from the early '70's, and it was getting a little ragged around the edges.

"Yes, well, a very Sunnydale sort of present, I suppose. Can we go and have orgasms together now?" Anya asked. Silly question, really.