Faith/Spike (BtVS & A:tS)

[tragicamente.livejournal.com]

Title: The Bloody and the Rogue
Author: tragicamente
Fandom: BtVS, A:tS
Pairing: Faith/Spike
Spoilers: all of Buffy. Angel season one.
Disclaimer: Not mine.

I wanted to write this essay quite a while ago, and then never really managed to get round to it and things just got in the way. I'm taking advantage of free month to just post what I had drafted a while ago because this pairing needs some loving, because my god it is awesome. Sadly, I don't have any fun pictures. If anyone wants to supply Spaith pictures in the comments - please do!


The Bloody and the Rogue
or ‘Spike and Faith’

Spike/Faith, Spike and Faith, Spaith or what have you not is the newest ship to enter my list of obsessions, ahem, I mean: hobbies. It stemmed from my vibrant passionate love for Buffy and then the love I have for delving into fandom. To be totally honest, I hadn’t even considered the pairing at first. I mean, of course, I loved Faith ever since she came on screen and Spike is just too cool to not like. What with the leather coat, that smirk and the bad boy thing going for him. However, I had never considered them as a pair until I stumbled across a fanfiction written for them. (By the by, I must complain that I am sorely upset by the lack of in this pairing) As soon as I saw the names go next to each other with that symbolic slash sign between them, I knew it made sense.

To freshen up memories or introduce to the newbies, I want to try and summarise the characters. It’s still going to be long because Spike and Faith have both been a large part of the plot and have a heck of a lot of screentime, so bear with me.

Spike – Spike started out as an undervalued, overlooked and rather pathetic human being. He is teased by those around him and doesn’t ever really stand up for himself. However it is clear, right from the beginning, as William attempts to woo Cecily that Spike is greatly governed by love.

Got his name Spike, because he tortured his victims with railroad spikes. Spike started out as a poet in England but was turned into a vampire by Drusilla. There he went on a rampage of having an obsession with slayers and would not stop until he killed one. Ended up killing two and was aiming for Buffy, to help Drusilla, when he came to Sunnydale the first time in ‘School Hard’, but failed in most attempts. Spike leaves Sunnydale in Season 2 because of he makes a deal with Buffy to get Drusilla out of Sunnydale. He doesn’t come back until Season 3 ‘Lover’s Walk’ where he is trying to get Drusilla back through a love spell, but gets an epiphany that he doesn’t need a spell to get her back after fighting with Buffy and Angel. We don’t see him again until Season 4 where we learn he has had a chip planted in his head that prevents him from harming human beings. He ends up staying with the Scooby Gang throughout the rest of the seasons, also ending up falling in love with Buffy in Season 5, having an affair with her in Season 6 ending up getting a soul for her, and sacrifices himself for her in Season 7. Yeah, pretty rushed and fleshed out summary, but that is the general gist.

Faith – Faith was the ‘second slayer’ called after Kendra was killed. She enters the Buffyverse in Season 3 in ‘Faith, Hope and Trick’. Bad-ass, vibrant, sexy and dark. She was the ‘rogue’ slayer that turned up without a watcher. Bad, bad things have happened in her past, of which we know practically nothing. She learns not to trust anybody and continues to fall deeper into herself after killing a human being in ‘Choices’. She ends up on the bad side, working for the Mayor, but is put into a coma by Buffy who is trying to get her blood to save Angel. She comes out of her coma in Season 4, wreaks havoc and ends up leaving and we hear later on that she was in LA and ends up putting herself in jail as she tries to put herself on the path of redemption. Faith returns in Season 7 as a ‘good/redeemed slayer’ and this is where the fun begins.

I have to admit, that I am not a very happy Spuffy shipper, so I believe that some of my love for this pairing comes from not wanting to see Spike with Buffy. However, the thing that attracts me most to the pairing is that they ‘get’ each other.

Both are wild, untameable, spontaneous beings that adore the rush from violence, sex and power. They get a kick from being evil and then end up both turning to redemption. They’ve both followed the same path, meeting hardship along the way and making some pretty bad stumbles, but in the end they’ve turned out for the greater good.

The characters of Spike and Faith started out in pretty much the same situation. And that makes them understand each other even more, and that’s the thing both of them need so badly.

‘On Screen Sizzling’

SPIKE: (stands) Nice punch you got there. Lemme guess. Leather pants, nice right cross, doe eyes, holier-than-thou glower...you must be Faith.
FAITH:
(shrugs and grins) Oh, goodie. I'm famous.
SPIKE:
Told you were coming. Bit of a misunderstanding here. I'm—
FAITH:
Spike. (nods) Yeah, we've met before.
SPIKE:
We have? I don't think we— (Faith kicks Spike in the torso) Bloody hell! What're you doing? I'm on your side.
FAITH:
Yeah? Maybe you haven't heard. I've reformed. (punches Spike)
SPIKE:
So have I. (punches Faith) I reformed way before you did. (Faith punches Spike) Stop... (punches Faith) hitting... (punches Faith again) me! We're on the same side.
FAITH:
Please. You think I'm stupid?
SPIKE:
Well, yeah. (grins)

-

SPIKE:
Not all that tension was about you. Giles was a part of a plan to kill me...for Buffy's own good.
FAITH:
Well, that makes me feel better about me, worse about Giles...kinda shaky about you.

-

FAITH:
(takes out another cigarette for herself) Huh. (looks at the chains and shackles on the wall behind Spike's cot)
SPIKE:
(looks over at the chains) Right. Not what it looks like.
FAITH:
Hey, to each his own, man. This one guy I ran with, he liked me to dress up like a school girl and take this friggin' bull-whip, (gestures like she's using a whip) and I'd be like—
SPIKE:
I got dangerous...for a while.
FAITH:
This before the soul, or after?
SPIKE:
After, but I got over it—in case you're feeling all dust-happy again after your long incarceration.
FAITH:
(smiles) Not if you're all repenty. Takes the fun out of it.
SPIKE:
You had the power to walk away anytime. Nothing to stop you.
FAITH:
I stopped me. I got dangerous for a while. (takes off her jacket)
SPIKE:
You over it?
FAITH:
(stretches her arms) More or less. I pull for the good guys now.
SPIKE:
What's the less?
FAITH:
(grins coyly) The usual stuff...
SPIKE:
Such as?
FAITH:
(grins) I was thinking about looking up the guy with the bull-whip. Long incarceration.
SPIKE:
(chuckles) You could do better. School girl thing's old hat.
FAITH:
It's all old-hat, man. (shrugs) Every guy's got some whack fantasy. Scratch the surface of any granola-type dude—naughty nurses and horny cheerleaders. (shrugs) I figure, if you can't beat 'em—
SPIKE:
Join 'em.
FAITH:
Just don't forget who's on top.
SPIKE:
That, I suspect, would be you.
FAITH:
(grins) You got that right. (walks over to Spike's cot, sits beside him) I've met you before, you know.
SPIKE:
Yeah, you made a great impression on my chin.
FAITH:
Not in the graveyard. Before that. I was kinda wearing a different body.
SPIKE:
Pity.
FAITH:
You seemed OK with it.
SPIKE:
The body swap. (nods) With Buffy.
FAITH:
She fill you in on that whole deal?
SPIKE:
She told me it went down. Failed to mention who was driving her skin around.
FAITH:
I may have said a few things...
SPIKE:
(looks into Faith's eyes) Like you could ride me at a gallop 'til my knees buckle, squeeze me 'til I pop like warm champagne. That's not the kind of thing a man forgets.

Those are all the fun banter they share, and the chemistry you see between them is fantastic. Besides from the fact that they are both extremely sexy and would be brilliant in bed together, they could help each other heal emotionally. And, let’s be honest, a slayer needs a partner who is strong and who understands what she does. Faith could never settle for an average guy and Spike could never go for anything less – and he seems to have a thing for slayers anyway.
The possibility and the chemistry is there. All it takes now is for fandom to bring it further to life.

Rec List:

Unfortunately the fandom is a little bit dead for this pairing, but there’s still plenty of stuff to go around.

Dutchbuffy2305

http://archive.shriftweb.org/archive/18/hisvoice.html - His voice is like Mars Bar

http://archive.shriftweb.org/archive/23/hesthe.html - He’s the light in her fridge

I believe, personally, that this is one of the best fanfiction stories I have ever read. It characterises them so perfectly and is just…incredible. I can still read the whole thing (and it is quite a hefty sum of words) and be entirely captivated. One of the best Faith and Spike voices around, and I am very fussy in my fanfiction.

Others:

http://strangebint.com/spaithstories.html - Stories by Strangebint that are fun to read.

http://archive.shriftweb.org/archive/23/haunted.html - For a Dark Fic

http://faithfanfiction.net/categories.php?catid=5&parentcatid=5&PHPSESSID=c3f3dca370f07cd05c8b4021ed411299 - Some more Spike/Faith Stories

http://cityofhellville.com/main.php - Hellville. The official first Spike/Faith shipper site. Great resources.

http://www.warmchampagne.com/indexx.html - A great Spaith shipper site

faithspike - community for Spaith goodness

Comments

[spikendru.livejournal.com]

You asked for a Spaith picture? Here's one, and I made an icon, too.

.

I enjoyed your reasons for pairing Spike/Faith, and I will definitely have to check out your recs. I don't want to come across as nitpicking, but I did notice a few little errors in your essay. William attempted to woo Cecily; Olivia was Giles' girlfriend in Season 4 - and the S3 Episode your mentioned is "Lover's Walk", rather than "Lover's Lane". I've been hoping to see more BtVS ships posted here. Thank you for posting this.

[tragicamente.livejournal.com]

Thanks for nit-picking!!

and yay spaith picture :) Thanks so much!

[tragicamente.livejournal.com]

Thanks for noticing that :) I just got a bit lazy while typing. and thanks so much for the recs! I'll definately check them out.

[leobrat.livejournal.com]

This was great and thanks so much for the recs!