Author: Lucinda

tenth in the "Bright Star" series

main characters are Faith and Adam Peirson

Rated t for teen, violence, sexuality and strong language

Disclaimer: anyone you recognize does not belong to me, though I may not be able to give all the legal who’s that do own them.

Distribution: by permission.

Notes: post s7 for BtVS.

bs10..bs10..bs10..bs10..bs10

Adam didn't have the chance to ask Faith any questions until the next morning. They'd showered away the blood and ashes, and then spent some very enjoyable time helping her unwind from the Slaying. Serious questions had been utterly forgotten.

Until morning, at least. There was only so long that a passionate naked woman could keep him distracted.

"Faith..." He leaned back in the chair, sipping at his coffee. "I think we need to talk a little about the Slaying."

She shrugged, and sipped at her coffee, barely covered by the tank top and panties that were both a soft blue. "What's to talk about? See vamps, slay vamps, go home and have some fun."

"I haven't survived this long without knowing when people aren't telling me things. When he talked about the Slayer that he'd known, about how there was only one... What aren't you telling me, Faith?" He tried to keep his voice calm, not to sound accusing. Of all people, he knew that sometimes secrets were safer, sometimes secrets weren't just yours, and sometimes it was damned hard to share.

"For a long time, it was one girl in all the world. Maybe even since before you were around," Faith paused, and sipped at her coffee, sorting and discarding words before she spoke. "Slayers die, from so many things. Most of them from finding a bigger, faster, more dangerous thing out there. I guess getting sick could do it too."

"One dies, another is Chosen. That's what they said a couple centuries ago, when I spent a couple decades hiding in their council. I translated old prophecies - seems it was tricky for them to find people who could read Sumerian."

"What about Slayers drowning? Did you find that in the records?" Faith looked at him, the irises of her eyes looking larger and more intense that usual.

"Yes... What has that to do with what you weren't saying last night?" He knew there was something very big that he was missing.

"Not that long ago, a Slayer got Chosen. She was blonde, and pretty, and this guy ended up head over heels for her. Lucky bitch that she is, she even ended up with people willing to go help her, to fight beside her, to help her figure out what that thing is and how to kill it," Faith's voice shook a little, and her cheeks seemed particularly damp.

"Slayers with friends and allies can still be killed," his voice was low, and he reached out, covering her hand with his.

Faith looked at him, and her smile was a little too big, her eyes a little too wide when she spoke again, "The guy, the one that fell for her, that's important. She fought this awful vampire, and he left her face down in a nasty pool of water while he went off to go do the death and destruction kind of thing."

"He found her in time?" He tried to picture this young man, head over heels in love with a young woman, finding her struggling in water, perhaps water red with blood, wounded and weakened...

"He knew CPR. Apparently, a Slayer only has to be a little bit dead for the next one to get drafted," Faith's words were far drier than her face. "And then there were two, not one. But the Chosen Two isn't as catchy, and B isn't good at sharing."

"Two Slayers?" The very idea made his mind boggle. "That would be... What happened after that?"

"The girl that drowned got better with the help of the guy, and they didn't learn until much later that there was another Slayer. Then they both ended up in the same place and the newer Slayer got killed. My turn." Faith's words faltered, and she gave a small shiver.

"Faith?"

She shook her head, and looked down, her eyes focused on their hands instead of his face. "Turns out Slayers don't share very well, and we aren't that good at playing well with others. She's off in Rome now, if my info's not out of date.”

Adam still doubted that this was anywhere near the full story. The signs were all there screaming at him that the troublesome, painfully emotional parts that hadn’t been spoken. Details about how she’d found out that Slayers didn’t share well, or just how bad things could have been… and as he remembered some of the more vicious harems that he’d encountered, he concluded that maybe it was safer not to ask. Just because he was immortal didn’t mean he didn’t feel pain. The way Faith had spoken about it becoming her turn… perhaps a bit of resentment, or… No, she would definitely have been measured against the other Slayer, this Bea. Unless he was mistaken, Faith had felt like she had been measured and found lacking.

“Rome’s a lovely city. Plenty of scenic buildings, nice toys… I’ve been told it was great fun to sack, with centuries of accumulated plunder. The last time I was there, it was also crawling with Watchers, both types,” He forced himself to give a casual shrug, as if the whole thing was insignificant.

Faith made a small noise, as if she had choked on a sniffle, and her hand twitched under his own.

Pulling her into his lap, he held her, murmuring, “I’m right where I want to be, with the one that I want to be with. I’m quite happy with you, my bright star. You are more than enough for me, as a woman and as a Slayer.”

As he held her in his arms, he found himself wondering if anyone had ever put Faith first. If she had ever been considered in someone’s decisions, if she’d ever felt like she mattered to the people around her. If she had ever been someone else’s priority. And he wanted to find the people who had done this to her, the ones who had left her so frightened of being abandoned and kill them. Kill them slowly and painfully. He knew many ways to do that. Granted, he was a bit out of practice, but he was certain that it would come back quickly enough…

Faith was his bright star, and the one who mattered to him. That other Slayer could just… die. Or drown, again. It didn’t matter to him, as long as she stayed away.

End Bright Star 10: Stars Shimmer.