Chapter Text
| Entry tags: | fanfic, ftvs, teaser |
Faith the Vampire Slayer: 1x05 (teaser)
The cold is officially here. Was below freezing with snow piling up, before it warmed just enough to turn to rain. At least it isn't sleet. (We have Eskimo words for snow.!)
Probably won't have this finished by end of year, but I wanted to get the teaser out before I got swamped with work this week.
So, to recap:
Previously, on Faith the Vampire Slayer:
It's only an island from the water.
- Love and Rockets
"Remind me again why I'm doing this?"
"Free lunch."
"Ain't no such thing."
"Thank you, grumpy grand old man." Willow remains fixated on the viewscreen of her phone. "Move back. I don't like those shadows on your face."
The Slayer complies with grudging alacrity. They're sitting on an overlook a few miles from the entrance to the tunnel that will take them under the river to the isle of Manhattan. The Jersey stretch had smelled about like everyone said, but they're almost accustomed to it by now.
"Besides," Willow continues. "If you can't handle one little old grandmother -- what makes you think you can deal with the inevitable meeting of the mom?"
"I can handle myself," Faith retorts. "Can see you're gonna be a handful to keep in line."
"And you might want to curtail that kind of joke around my family if you don't want them to think you're responsible for these." Willow's smile as she indicates the fading bruises on her face doesn't hide her seriousness. "You're still looking kind of knocked around yourself. They're gonna think we're National Enquirer celebrity lesbians."
"Thought I'd heal up by the time we got here." Faith's shrug belies her own concern. "Don't wanna miss the big day."
"Not every day your cousin is a bar mitzvah." Willow had been hoping to stop and visit Katie and the rest of the Kurtz family on their way back through Pennsylvania, but in the end things had been too tight (and she won't say that aloud to Faith, even alone in the car). They've arranged everything by phone, text and email, scheduling their visit almost entirely around the ceremony.
"You don't have to worry about me," Faith shrugs. "I don't need an open bar to have a good time."
"Who's worried?" Willow looks up from the screen, taking in the real view. Faith sits on the edge of the precipice at an undoubtedly illegal angle, one knee drawn up to her chest, hair blowing in the breeze as she stares out over the river.
"All those crotchety uncles? You'll get along with them like a house on fire." Willow frowns. "Which now that I think about it isn't exactly the most positive --"
"You gonna take that shot while it's still light out?"
"It's not even noon."
"And we still gotta get across, find this place and get a parking spot." Faith's expression remains serene, with a hint of smugness. "If you can find a parking spot in New York City without magic, I'll --" She considers briefly. "Never mind."
"No. I'm interested." Willow goes back to fiddling with buttons, not trying to hide the amusement in her voice. "What would you do?"
"I said never mind." Faith looks over, ready to tussle. There's a click as Willow takes the shot.
"Perfect. One more?"
"If it's perfect, you don't need one more." But the Slayer doesn't move from her perch.
"It'll be fine." Willow observes her girlfriend through the screen, brought to miniature digital life. "You don't have to worry."
"Who's worried?" Faith still sounds irritated. It doesn't help that they haven't spoken to any of the London crowd since before the great train incident. Both of them are ready to submit reports, anxious for updates on Dana's condition.
"I mean you don't have to take it personally. I'm worried, and she's my grandma. Or bubbeh."
"I get along great with strangers." Faith twirls an unlit cigarette in her fingers. "I got all kinds of rapport."
"When you're not taking every chance you can get to do wicked and wanton things to their beloved offspring."
"Thanks for makin' me hungry."
"We're not spoiling your appetite." Willow makes a final adjustment. "See, first we starve you, so you don't spoil your appetite. Then we tell you to eat because you look so thin."
Faith's brow furrows into a caterpillar. "What kinda logic is that?"
"One person's logic is another's humor." Willow gets the shot and pockets her phone, walking over to rest her chin on Faith's shoulder, wrapping her arms around the Slayer. "Just be grateful this place doesn't have a dress code."
"Believe me, I'm all kinds."
"And you should think about coming to the rehearsal. It'll give you some idea what to expect --"
"I'll think about it." Faith still isn't looking at her. Willow hesitates before taking the plunge.
"My grandma's not that bad. At least I don't remember her being that bad." Willow thinks back. "It's been years since I saw her for more than a few minutes. She was going to come to my graduation, but my dad talked her out of it."
"I had a grandpa," Faith volunteers, her casual tone giving nothing away. "When I was little. He'd like, try to raise me when my mom wasn't around. Which wasn't often enough."
"Well, that's...good." Willow plants a distracting kiss on her ear. "When was the last time you saw him?"
"Dunno." Faith shrugs, back to a face of stone. "What about you? When's the last time you saw Grandma?"
"I might have been...eleven? I remember I was nine when we flew to New York to visit her." Willow blushes. "I threw up on the plane."
"Perfect," Faith chuckles.
"No, literally. We were just getting on board, and...well hey, enough of my life story, huh?" Willow tugs on Faith's arm, encouraging her to hop down from the ledge. "Let's not keep her waiting."
"You're sure?"
"I just heard her on the phone." He glances furtively about, keeping his voice low. "They'll be here in a couple hours."
"You'd better not be jerking us around." He can almost smell the fetid stench through the phone of the speaker's breath; taste the slime dripping from its teeth. "Or there won't be enough of you left to circumcise."
"Little late for that." He somehow manages to sound nonchalant.
"We can work around it."
"You can ease up on the threats." He straightens his tie, taking one last look in the mirror. "Everyone's gonna get what they want."
A baritone chuckle rattles with mucous. "I doubt the witch is going to want her heart ripped out."
He stares down his unsmiling reflection.
"It won't be the first time."
**