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She remembers Buffy's eyes all too well. Not so much her careful hands putting the phone back into its cradle, or the rigid line of her spine when she stood up to face Faith, but her eyes and the way they didn't really focus on her but looked right through her, to some point away in the distance.
"Sorry, Faith. I have to go to L.A. Like, now."
Faith remembers scowling, some little nasty gnawing at her guts. "What, to help the mighty W & H put together the latest shady deal? They got Wesley, and Fred, and --"
"No Fred any more, just an ancient god at the steering wheel -- there really must be a nest in some neighbouring hell dimension -- but anyway, that's not why they're in trouble."
"'scuse me for asking all the dumb questions here, but what's up?"
"Faith, I don't know , but Willow said, quote, they are in deep horse hooey, no mistake about it, unquote."
"Buffy, not to bug you-- oh, hell, even then: we have Attenborough on our hands, remember? Bank business by day, demonic world domination by night?!"
"You and the new Watchers can handle breaking up the ritual tomorrow night; you know all there is to know. I'll just hustle Giles and a bunch of junior Slayers to Heathrow and fly to L.A. "
It *sounded* halfway okay; even after the whole thing with Team Angel going corporate and with what Faith had dubbed The Dana Fuck-Up, it was still Angel , after all--
"I'm coming along. Let Kennedy, Willow , and the suits handle Attenborough, they can be here by noon tomorrow-- from Devon to here it's only a day's ride."
When Buffy's gaze dropped, Faith knew.
"There's something else. Fuck, Buffy, tell me!"
"Spike. He's...alive. Still dead; a vampire, I mean. But he's there."
Faith felt faint, like some fucking madam in an old movie. The ceiling was too high, the floor too low, suddenly, and Buffy too far away.
"Yeah. I get it. Game over."
" Faith ! This isn't why I'm going!"
"Maybe not, but it's why you lied to my face and wanted to keep fucking secrets from me!"
"As if you --" Buffy broke off, knuckles pressed to her eyes. "Let's just...*not*. I simply can't do this now."
"What, break up with me because of some skinny blond piece of undead ass?"
The volley was just as quick, and sharp: "No, maybe it's because you still take things too personal, what with saving the world a bit more important than your -- or my -- relationship issues."
Rage and fear and something dark and bitter were swamping her, but if she opened her mouth now, it was all gonna go to hell without needing a London banker or the forces of evil in California .
Buffy's voice was softer now, but most of all, it was cool and determined. This sound Faith knew -- nothing was gonna change her mind now.
"I'm sorry Faith, but I'm leaving right now. I trust you to hold it all together here."
No one.
A/N: Yes, I know, this needs a heteronormativity warning label. Originally part of a longer story that I may still write one day -- that ultimate post-Chosen epic of the B/F persuasion.
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