Chapter 6: Hungry and Horny
(Buffy's POV)

I plaster a fake smile on my face before walking into the Bronze, hoping that they won't see right through it. Just as I expected Oz and Willow are smooching but they separate as soon as they see me. They ask about my good mood and I make some lame comment about having passed one test or another... I knew being on academic probation was bound to come in handy sooner or later. I see a boy approach, I think his name is Scott or something like that and I'm not all that surprised to discover that Willow is trying to set me up with him. He's cute but I'm so not interested... and no, I don't feel like dancing either. I just wish Oz and Willow would get that but it doesn't look like it's going to happen this century. So far this has been a total disaster, everything I feared it would be but I did promise Giles that I'd try so I decide to stay... at least for a while.

I see Xander and Cordelia returning from the dance floor and I hope that will be the end of Willow's little 'let's set Buffy up' campaign. I hear Cordelia say something bitchy about someone on the dance floor and I turn around, grateful for the distraction. Seeing the girl in question I wonder for a fraction of a second what good old Cordy would have said about me if she had seen me two weeks ago but then I realize just what's wrong with the scene on the dance floor... and it has nothing to do with the way in which the girl is moving. I should have noticed it right away, the guy's clothes are all wrong, dated, and here in good old Sunnydale that has rarely anything to do with a distinct lack of fashion sense... in fact all too often it relates to a lack of pulse in stead. I see that they are heading for the exit and I know the girl's in trouble.

I try to make my way toward the door and the others follow me but I'm stopped once again by Scott, who still refuses to take the hint that I'm not interested. I get rid of him as fast as I can but by the time I make it out the door she's gone and I'm afraid I've lost her. I hear the unmistakable sound of fighting and I let out a sigh, knowing that it means I'm not too late, it gives me hope but I know I don't have much time either. I rush into an alley and I see the vamp ready to attack again. I'm about to intervene when I see her face. She's not afraid, in fact she seems to be looking forward to this. To my utter shock she kicks the vampire's face before spinning around and introducing herself as Faith. She keeps on fighting as she talks to me and I know who she is. When one dies another is called... and Kendra is dead. It is Oz who points out the obvious as the girl, Faith, pulls the stake from my hand and without hesitation plunges it into the vampire's heart before handing it back to me.

We head back to the Bronze and I must admit I'm feeling more than a little curious about this new slayer. I can see right away that she's not the council's standard issue... not by a long shot, so I assume that once again they were caught unawares with an active slayer they hadn't even identified before. I'm beginning to wonder just how often they actually manage to identify the right girl and though I can't say I'm too unhappy by the fact that they missed me, I can tell that Faith may have been better off if she had been found by the tweed brigade. I know the look in her eyes, I saw it in more than one girl back in LA.

I see the way in which she devours her muffin, like there's no tomorrow, like she doesn't know where her next meal will come from and I can see right through her stories. Xander is absolutely fascinated. She turns to me and says something about slaying making her hungry and horny. I don't know what to say. Part of me couldn't agree more but I can't tell her that, not here anyway. I know my friends wouldn't understand... that's not what the old Buffy would have said and for the time being I have to pretend to be her, at least when they are around, so I say something about non-fat yogurt. That's safe, that's what's expected of me though I'm sure Faith can see right through me, just as easily as I can see through her... and suddenly I'm so tired of this whole thing, of having to pretend that nothing's changed.

When Faith reaches for a second muffin I start to get worried. All joking about slaying making her hungry and horny aside, I can't help but feel that if she doesn't slow down she's going to end up making herself sick. I bite back my warning, knowing that she wouldn't appreciate it, and I trust her instead to know what she's doing.

I'm relieved when Cordelia cuts into my yogurt ramblings by pointing out the obvious regarding Kendra's death and Faith's calling... I don't think I would have been able to maintain the 'sweet old Buffy' charade for much longer. When Willow asks Faith why she's here she feeds us a story about her Watcher being in some sort of retreat and I go into high alert as soon as I hear that. I know she's lying and I can't figure out why. She asks me a question about the fight against the judge but hormone bomb Xander interrupts, wanting to hear more of Faith's naked adventures. She looks at me for a moment and I can see the amusement in her eyes. I can tell what she's thinking and I have to fight hard not to smile. Teenaged boys are so predictable. Before I know it she's telling him a totally phony story about her fight against a twelve feet long alligator, much to Cordelia's annoyance. Willow is worried for the alligator's sake and seems really sad when Faith tells her it was killed. I'm caught off guard when Faith asks about my toughest fight and my mind goes back to running that sword through Angel before I can stop myself but I'm not ready to talk about that so I say something about the Three... I don't know why they come up, seeing how I can think of about a dozen opponents who weren't so easily defeated. Luckily that seems to be enough to get her off my case. Seeing my reaction Oz brings up the werewolf issue and I'm extremely grateful for that as it gives me a moment to marshal my thoughts.

I won't deny that I didn't want to come here tonight. I feared it would be a disaster and it was until Faith arrived. She's so different from Kendra and for the first time I give myself a moment to mourn my fellow slayer. Funny how I haven't been able to do that in these past few months. I never had much of a chance to get to know her, not really, but the thing is that while we respected each other and in a sense we even complemented each other if she had been around more I don't think we could have become friends. We were too different and even though I managed to revert some of her programming... I mean, her training... a part of me always knew it was too late for her. Faith is a different story. If Giles thinks he has his hands full with me I can't imagine how Faith's watcher feels. I hope she got lucky, like I did. I hope she's got a watcher who actually cares for her but somehow I doubt it. If that were the case she wouldn't be half starved and there's no question in my mind that she is. I know what hunger looks like, I've been there myself and it is so not a fun place to be.

Seeing the differences between Faith and Kendra I can't help but think it's kind of ironic. Kendra spent her whole life learning how to fight the things that go bump in the night, training to defeat vampires and demons... and as a result she probably led a far more sheltered and protected life than Faith ever did.