Prompt 171 - Bastard -What's in a Name? (1/1) (BtVS) - spikesdeb

[spikesdeb.livejournal.com]

Title: What's in a Name?
Fandom: BtVS
Pairing/Characters: Faith, ensemble
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, sadly. All praise to Joss and his inventive mind.
Summary: Faith's arrived in Sunnydale and causing quite a stir. But would anybody really want to be her?
A/N: Thanks to seductivembrace for going beyond the call of duty, again, and beta'ing at short notice and while she really should have been doing something else...
Prompt #171: Bastard
Word Count: 803

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Bastard.

She was used to the word; it had been hurled at her so many times that it was almost a comfort now. Technically, it wasn't true – her parents had been married, but only briefly after a drunken weekend in Vegas. She knew her father's name but that was all.

It was all for the best, she thought. Maybe if she'd been brought up by mother who didn't view her as a burden and a father who was proud of her, she wouldn't be the hard-assed bitch she was today – and a slayer with a soft heart would be a dead slayer.

Or so she'd thought before coming to Sunnydale. It turned out that Buffy Summers had friends – real friends – and a family. They sat and talked and laughed, shared memories and dreams of the future, reckless as to the danger that surrounded them. And Buffy's mom – she was something else. Kind, funny, way prettier than she ought to be for a woman her age. Sometimes when Joyce Summers looked at her, Faith fought the urge to rampage and kick and bite at the unfairness that saddled her with a mother more interested in the bottom of the next bottle than making sure her daughter was fed and clothed.

It was purely an act, the way Faith was sprawled in the good dining room chair around the table, one leather-booted leg dangling and bouncing over the arm as she snapped her gum. She was disrespectful because it was expected of her. Usually, it felt right, as the people she was with didn't deserve respect anyway – but here, in Buffy's home, surrounded by warmth and love, it felt wrong to be so sullen and objectionable. And she got the impression that Joyce Summers didn't believe the act anyway.

Buffy and Willow and the boy, Xander, were getting up from the table, leaving the mess of their meal behind for Buffy's mom to clean up. For some unknown reason, Faith had an overwhelming urge to stay behind and help, but Buffy turned at the door and threw out an 'are you coming?', clearly at Willow and Xander's urging as they stood bright-eyed peeping over her shoulder. Buffy's eyes were less than bright, and far from welcoming, but Faith followed anyway, taking the time to stop and thank Joyce for the meal and the hospitality. The spontaneous hug that followed made Faith uncomfortable so she slipped out of the rare maternal embrace and followed Buffy and her entourage out of the door.

They headed to one of the many Sunnydale cemeteries, picking the watcher up on the way. Faith missed her own watcher. Her time shackled to the council had turned out to be the most normal of her life, despite the demons and the vampires that came with the gig. The manner of her watcher's death still haunted her, and the thirst for revenge had brought her to Sunnydale. Naively, she thought she'd slink in, slaughter, and skip out. She hadn't reckoned on the black hole that was Buffy Summers life pulling her in.

A blur of movement drew her thoughts away from her inner turmoil, and the slayer gene took over. They'd stumbled upon a nest of vampires, cocky as hell and taunting them as they surrounded them. No doubt three young girls, an untried youth and a tweed-wearing guy with glasses seemed a delightful meal, but the vampires were either stoned or stupid – and either way, Buffy and Faith seemed to find common ground in the way they whirled and kicked and dusted, even looking choreographed as they raced after the final vampire and both staked him at the same time, one from the front, one from the back.

Panting and grinning, Faith swaggered back to the group at Buffy's side, expecting her sister slayer to be likewise invigorated; but one look at Buffy's grim face had her shaking her head in amazement. It seemed that Buffy was all about the duty, not the joy, and Faith truly didn't understand it. Yeah, they had a job to do, and it was hard and without recognition for the most part – but where else could you get such a kick? It was a gift, being chosen, but Buffy seemed to see it as a burden.

Worked up and ready to burn off the excess energy, Faith declined the gang's invite to coffee at the Espresso Pump and instead headed to the only club in town, intending to finish the night wrapped around some random lucky guy who would then spend the rest of his life bemoaning the loss of her slayer muscles.

As she disappeared into the night, Buffy watched her with a mixture of loathing and envy. Faith's life was uncomplicated, her motivation selfish.

If only she could swap places.

803 words

Comments

[kerkevik.livejournal.com]

Hi,

great look at the conflicted emotions, and reactions, of both Slayers. Both desperately, and not, wanting to be the other. In the end, Buffy's turned out to be the better option, but could she truly be said to be the winner?

I'm not sure, but this was really thought-provoking.

Also, as I've liked a couple of your fics in the past, I'll add you as a friend, if you don't mind.

Thank you,
Still under Willow & Tara's spell,
Ray.

[spikesdeb.livejournal.com]

Hey there Ray! I've added you as a friend, and replied to your comment over at my journal. But, I'd just like to say that I appreciate your insightful words - and I think you definitely 'got' my little ficlet. Look forward to getting to know you better!

Take care

Deb