REPOST: Beginning a New Game

BEGINNING A NEW GAME (OR - WICKED COOL?)

Faith stood in her old apartment. Her loft. The one the Mayor had purchased for her. She was still upset that he was dead. He had been like a father to her. Sure he was evil, but he had always treated her well. Plus, he had this quirky, sometimes lame, sense of humor that grew on her. And thanks to him, she was addicted to milk.

But, after he ascended, she knew he wasn't the man who looked out for her. He had become a large, demon snake, whose number one priority was eating people. She knew Buffy had to kill him, and she was trying really hard to enforce her new self-policy. 'The past is the past. Let it lie.'

She took the Mayor's taped message for her, where he basically said she wouldn't be able to survive without him, as a challenge. If she could make it, it would show him just how determined she was, and maybe, just maybe, a part of him would be proud of her. No matter who was helping her with the surviving thing.

The apartment was in a shambles, and obviously hadn't been touched. The window smashed, bedspread on the floor, boxes…it had been a nice place once. But that, this, was in her past. She walked over to one of the boxes, and pulled out a dress. The pink dress. From him.

Maybe she'd keep one thing, she thought, hugging the article of clothing to her chest.

"Wanna take anything?" Buffy asked, standing in the doorway.

"Not much. Too many bad -"

"Memories. Yeah. Did I mention how sorry I am?"

Faith turned around, a small smile on her face. "Enough so that I have to work to catch up."

"Hey," Buffy said reassuringly, "it's not a contest."

"Yeah, I know."

"What's that?" Buffy looked at the dress.

"Oh, um," Faith said folding the dress, "it was a gift."

"From…oh." Buffy didn't know if she'd ever understand the Mayor or his relationship with Faith, but she could tell it ran deep. "So…nothing else?"

"Oh! I don't know if it’s still…"

She ran off into the other room, and Buffy walked over to try and see what she was getting. Faith came back, a few minutes later, carrying a bag, and a gray box-thing. That was the only thing Buffy could think of to describe it.

"What's that?"

"Come on, B. You gotta know what this is." Buffy shook her head. "Your poor, poor slayer girl. College freshman and you've never…" Now it was Faith who shook her head. "PlayStation."

"Play Station?"

"It plays video games? On CD?"

"Oh…right."

"We have some wicked serious gaming to do. Dreamcast come out yet?"

"For some reason the date 9-9-99 keeps popping into my head."

Buffy opened the door, and let Faith go past her out of the apartment.

"Damn. I gotta get to the mall then."

***

"Do you know what you're doing?" Xander asked Giles.

He and Willow were in Giles' house. After Buffy had talked to Giles, and Willow told him what she and Tara had done, in simple terms, a spell that made the cops "forget" who Faith was, and cleared her file. Some would argue, and they'd be correct, that Faith was being allowed to get away with murder.

But Giles wanted to help the girl. Prison wouldn't help her; it would just make things worse. Besides, Faith probably could escape anyhow. And she had killed under orders from the Mayor. And he saw how charismatic, how convincing, the man was first- hand. He was evil, but at the same time, the nicest person you'd ever meet.

Faith had been at a point last year, after she accidentally staked the Deputy Mayor and Wesley had tried to take her to England without explanation, without caring, where she was extremely vulnerable. Very scared. And the Mayor had offered her something they couldn't. Though they wished they could have. Especially Buffy.

Stability. Safety. A place in life without having to feel second.

Buffy, he knew, had tried very hard to assure Faith that she was needed. Liked. Welcome into the group. The difference between Buffy and the Mayor was that to Faith, Buffy didn't really need her help, her friendship, because Buffy already had that. She felt like a pity case.

While the Mayor, didn't have anybody. Allan had died, and Trick was dust. He was alone, and probably worried that his plans for ascension were nearly ruined. He must have reached out to Faith, Giles reasoned, and she had been drawn to it immediately. He had seen many people like her, and he still sympathized with her.

If he said he still wasn't a little afraid, it would've been a lie. But Buffy had assured him that Faith wanted to rebuild her life and correct her mistakes. He had been reckless like her once. Maybe that was why he was so quick to help. And as long as she was willing, and Buffy was sure, he was willing to give her a place to stay. That's what had Xander all wound up.

"I know perfectly well what I'm doing. She can't stay with Buffy because she's not a student, Joyce is still rather skeptical, and Faith has no means of income. I could use the company, actually."

"The company of a homicidal maniac? I still don't get how you could let her off the hook, Will."

"There was no hook released. But she doesn't have the…'eye look' thing…anymore. She needs help. She wants it. Doesn't mean I like her, just that I know she does." Willow said.

"Maybe she's acting the whole 'I want help routine.' She's good at that."

"Look, we've all got reasons to be wary, but um, are you sure you don't have other reasons for being apprehensive?" Giles asked.

"No…I think the fact that she nearly almost cut off circulation to my lungs is good enough."

"So it has nothing to do with her being the first person you had sex with and you feeling insecure because she kicked you out so fast?" Willow asked, bitterness in her voice.

"Thanks for boiling it down, Will. Man, am I glad Anya's not here."

"I think I might have a solution." Giles offered.

"What?"

"Give her a chance, and talk to her."

"But that makes too much sense."

"Oh, right. I forgot who I was talking to."

"Hey!"

***

Buffy and Faith had gone to the campus, so Buffy could give her the real tour. They were heading off now, to go to Giles'. They walked down the steps, Faith talking about her hidden passion.

"But there's this one move you can do, and BAM! Guy ain't getting' up." Faith said thrusting her arm up for emphasis. "You gotta try it."

"How exactly do you do it again?"

"You face the guy," Faith thought a moment, "hit right twice, then square, square circle."

"They make it so simple. So what's with the obsession over this stuff?"

"You really wanna know?"

"Wouldn't ask if I didn't."

"It was kind of an escape. Course back when I started, all they had was Pong on Atari, but still…it gave me something to do. It was better than…"

"Better than what?" Buffy urged.

Faith was hesitant, and before she could get an answer out, Riley ran over, cutting them off.

"Buffy, can I…" He saw Faith then, and his eyes widened, then narrowed. "Hello."

"Hey." She looked at Buffy, and pointed her thumb over to the side. "I'll just…go hang."

"I'll be there in a sec." Buffy told her.

"No, it's cool. Take your time." Faith backpedaled, leaving them alone.

Buffy turned to Riley, however reluctantly. She really wanted to talk with Faith. "What's going on?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Buffy had to think. "Faith is -"

"I thought you told me she was dangerous. That she hurt you. What's the deal?"

"It's complicated."

"Explain it to me."

She looked back at Faith. "This is something that I have to do alone. She isn't a threat, if that's what you're worried about."

"That's not what I meant. If I've…is this because of what -?"

"It has nothing to do with...we're fine." She assured him, squeezing his hand. "She just needs my attention right now."

"What changed your mind?"

"I got a taste of what it's like for her, and I don't want her to have to go back to that."

"Then I'm sure you know what you're doing. I hope you…help her."

"Me too."

***

As Faith was waiting Buffy to come over, she felt very alone. Did the Mayor know her or what? She was feeling somewhat better about herself, but now that she was starting to build friendships again, she was surprised how dependent she was becoming on them. And for the first time in her life, she didn't see that as a bad thing.

"Faith?"

The slayer came out of her thoughts, and realized Tara was standing near her trying to get her attention. "Sorry. I was spacing. What's up?"

"Nothing. Are you…going to see Willow?"

"We're going to Giles'. She's probably there."

"Oh…okay."

"You wanna come with or something?"

"I don't wanna get in the way."

"Hey, what I said before? Stick is good, but I don't have a problem with people who drive automatic. Less complicated anyway." Tara blushed just as Buffy sprinted over. "Everything five by five?"

"Is that like a slaying term?" Tara asked, still trying to figure out the meaning.

Buffy smiled at Faith, then displayed her hand, her five fingers completely outstretched, to the two girls. "The fivest. Hi Tara. And your guess is as good as mine."

"Hi Buffy."

"Looking for Will?" Tara nodded. "Come with us."

"Thanks."

"No problem. So you been hanging out long?"

***

Xander was pacing as the door of the house opened, and the three girls entered. Giles came out of the kitchen, and Willow rose from the couch. She smiled wider when she saw Tara.

"Look who we found." Buffy said.

"Did you get my message?" Willow asked Tara.

"Uh huh. I was just walking, and I saw them and…"

"Well it's cool you came." Willow looked at Buffy and Faith. "Did you get everything you needed?"

"Bare essentials. Speaking of, where's the TV?" Faith said, carrying her bag of PlayStation supplies with her. "Here we go. Score." She knelt down and proceeded to unpack.

Willow walked up to Buffy. "How is she?"

"Good. Still got a lot ahead of her, I think, but she's on her way." Buffy decided it was time to stop talking about Faith, because she could tell Willow was just being polite. "Tara's nice. She seems to think highly of you. Not that I blame her."

Willow was beaming now, grateful for the change of subject. "So you like her?"

"Yeah. You should bring her around to hang out with us more."

"I think she'd really like that." Willow said, and then walked over to Tara. "You gotta see some of the books Giles has."

***

Buffy switched her attention to Xander who was watching Faith cautiously as she tried to hook up the game machine. Buffy walked over to him, and lightly elbowed him in the stomach. "Go be nice."

Giles came over to Buffy, as Xander made his way over to Faith.

"Is she all set?" He asked.

"As much as she's going to be. Thanks for giving her a place."

"I'm happy to do it. She's thanked me several times already."

"So you can see she's trying."

"Yes she is, and that's a big step in the right direction. Just one question."

"Fire away."

"What exactly is she doing to my television?"

***

Faith had the machine all ready to go, and was searching through her game library. Xander walked up behind her, and had not yet noticed what she was doing.

"How are you?" He asked. 'Did you kill anyone today?' was his silent question.

"Xander, hey. I'm hanging in there."

"Got a girlfriend now."

"Yeah, that girl, right?"

"Anya."

"Very sexually active."

"Was that a question?"

She found the game she wanted and opened the lid. "A fact."

"Is there a problem with that?"

"No, it's good exercise. Builds the muscles."

Xander had been beating around the bush, and finally just blurted out his real question. "Was I…good?"

"Good?"

"Ya know, when we…"

"Oh…well…" She pushed the 'POWER' button and started to plug in the controllers. "I didn't fake it."

"Really?" Xander asked, suddenly feeling a lot of pride.

"Swear to God. Didn't I say that a lot? Anyway, I'm sure you're making her very satisfied." With that, Faith had reassured his manhood and apologized, and that was good enough for him. "Wanna play?"

Xander had to clear his throat, and then he looked down at what she had been doing. He suddenly devolved several years. "You have a PlayStation? Count me in. What you got?" He asked, lowering himself to the floor.

"Tekken 3's in now. Not the latest, but still a goodie. Hey, B! Willow! Tara!"

Buffy came over first. "So this is it, huh?"

"Time for me to teach you." Faith said.

***

Several hours later, they were all crowded around the small TV, two unlikely combatants engaged in battle. Everyone was cheering them on.

"Sweep the leg!" Willow said.

"No, jab! Jab!" Xander said.

"They're both wrong. Jump kick!" Buffy said.

And in the next the next second the match was over. Giles handed his controller over to Buffy, and Tara was silently enjoying her victory.

"That was bracing. Certainly improves hand-eye coordination." Giles said.

Xander checked his watch. "Damn, it's late. Gotta get home before my parents change the locks."

"I guess I should go too." Tara said.

"Oh! I'll walk you." Willow said rising up off the floor.

After quick good-byes, and promising to be careful, the three of them left. Giles got up as well.

"I think I'll call it a night. You two will be all right?"

"We're as independent as they come." Buffy said.

"Ditto." Faith said.

"Good night, then."

"Giles?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for…giving me another chance. I know I…just…really appreciate it."

He smiled at her, and walked up the stairs. Faith turned to Buffy, then, afraid to ask, but she had to. "Do you have to split too?"

"No. I don't have classes tomorrow. You want me to stay?"

"You don't have to. Only if you want."

"You want the couch or the floor?"

Faith smiled slightly, and fiddled with the wire in the controller. "Um…my mom, she was a heavy drinker, and my dad would always come home and beat…hurt her. If I kept my mouth shut, I wouldn't get it after she did.

"But it was hard to just, you know, ignore. I needed something to distract me. The Atari was the thing that saved me most of the time. I…"

Buffy put her hand on Faith's back. She felt the other slayer tense, and then relax. She didn't want to force her to say any more, she knew it would all come out on its own eventually, or so she hoped.

"Wanna start a new game?" Buffy asked.

Faith was relieved Buffy hadn't pushed. It hurt enough just getting that out. It was good to have someone just…listen. "Yeah. I'm up for it."